Labor Day boded well for Tmall International. Its revenue increased by 65% year-on-year, with transaction volume swelling by 84%, in the period of April 30 to May 5.
Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Cambodia were the most active places for mobile Alipay transactions. The top three product categories were beauty, healthcare, and maternal and child products.
In terms of tourism, Alibaba’s travel platform Fliggy saw a 51% year-on-year overall increase in travelers over the holiday period. Outbound travel numbers grew by 61%, with Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the USA as the most popular destinations.
In 2018, about 40% of merchants in areas frequented by Chinese tourists accepted Chinese mobile payments, compared with just 12% in 2016, according to a joint report by Nielsen and Alipay published earlier this year. The researchers also found that Chinese tourists spent on average more than USD 3,400 (RMB 22,900) per person per trip, excluding tour package fees and major transportation costs such as flights.
Tmall International covers 77 countries and regions, helping more than 4,000 types of products and 20,000 foreign brands enter the Chinese market.