Alibaba’s Tmall to give brands their own next-gen flagship stores
Alibaba is giving merchants a better chance at snaring customers with its new format, Flagship 2.0, which uses algorithms to work out each customer’s buying habits and makes relevant brands, products, vouchers and promotions visible on the home page.
The format also offers content based on individual preferences. For instance, if one user likes watching videos, then products they may consider buying will also be provided in video format.
Jiang Fan, president of Alibaba subsidiaries Taobao and Tmall, said these next-generation flagship stores are part of a series of service and technological innovations that Alibaba plans to roll out this year.
“They will further improve platform efficiency and generate growth for merchants, while bringing all-new, online-to-offline shopping experiences for consumers,” he said.
The new format, which will be launched on Tmall before the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival in November, will include features that help merchants engage with customers more directly.
For instance, “brand-loyalty scores” will allow users to collect points for any action taken in a flagship store – be it browsing and adding items to the shopping cart, or playing an interactive game and leaving a review. The higher the score they get, the more benefits they earn as part of the brand’s “Fan Club”.
Stores will also be able to grab attention with the “drag-down pop-up” feature, in which users can “drag down” pop-ups (which Tmall refers to as “store lofts”) above a flagship store’s homepage for additional information.
Brands will also be able to feature content powered by augmented reality (AR) and 3D, such as magic mirror to virtually try on make-up or artificial intelligence powered skin tests.
The flagship store’s home page can also feature a tab that takes users to a page showing the brand’s closest bricks-and-mortar location, what items are sold there as well as offline perks and services.
This tab was created essentially to give physical stores an online presence and connect online and offline operations.
“We’ve seen content evolve from just text and images to video clips and livestreaming, opening up new avenues for brand expression,” said Alvin Tang, vice president of Alibaba Group and one of the men behind the Tmall Flagship 2.0 launch.
“Today, with the development of AI, AR and 3D technologies, we are able to introduce even more exciting ways for brands to interact with consumers.”