Taobao overhauls cross-border shopping experience

Taobao has upgraded its cross-border shopping experience, widening direct access worldwide to curated stores and products from China selected for their quality, distinctiveness, and originality.

Identifying a trend in cross-border demand for Chinese goods, from seeking “low prices” to prioritising “distinctiveness” and “quality,” Taobao seeks to meet these evolving expectations by leveraging its catalogue of over three billion products available for cross-border purchase, alongside its trusted official cross-border logistics and localised services.

Taobao's product selection draws on China's manufacturing supply chain and merchant ecosystem. Cross-border users can already buy over three billion products on Taobao, spanning apparel and accessories, home and furniture, smart electronics, pet supplies, designer toys, sports and outdoor products, and more. This supports the platform's “Everything and anything” positioning.

With this brand experience upgrade, Taobao is further strengthening its supply of distinctive stores and products, making it easier for cross-border users to discover well-made and well-designed products and brands from China.

From its wider catalogue, the system has identified over 4,000 original-brand stores and six million curated products, creating a distinctive selection of products for cross-border shoppers. Through dynamic updates and ongoing recommendations, users can more easily discover quality products, new trends, and distinctive items rarely seen in their local markets.

Unveiling new "DISCOVER" channel

Taobao has also unveiled the new DISCOVER channel. Built on the Taobao curated supply system, it organises distinctive stores and products into up to 15 themed categories including women’s fashion, women’s footwear, menswear, furniture, toys, stationery, pet supplies, fitness, and automotive accessories, tailored to the categories, interests and lifestyles cross-border users love most.

Powered by an upgraded personalisation algorithm, the channel surfaces stores and curated items upon entry. Users can explore brands’ signature aesthetics, hero products, and brand stories, effortlessly finding products that match their personal style and taste.

Taobao is also continuing to refine its suite of AI shopping assistants, including AI try-on, AI virtual makeup, AI room placement for furniture, voice-search-by-hold, and AI petcare guides. These tools help users assess sizing, visualise how products may look together, and understand how larger furniture could fit within their homes, helping to address common considerations when shopping online.

Taobao will also roll out more than 30 AI lifestyle experts covering topics such as styling and baking. Through in-depth conversation, these AI experts help users identify their needs more quickly and find products that better match their specific requirements, making it easier to navigate a vast selection of products.

Regarding localised content, the Taobao app regularly publishes local topic series such as “Taobao NowWear,” “Taobao trend,” and local rankings, weaving product discovery into the topics local shoppers are already buzzing about and bringing the shopping experience closer to everyday needs.

Logistics upgrade for seamless global delivery

While Taobao has built a direct-shipping network covering 20 markets by 2025, with free shipping introduced in selected markets, this year Taobao Official Logistics is further upgrading its services through three core pillars, "guarantee", "convenience" and "assurance", to provide a highly predictable journey for cross-border users.

Under "guarantee", Taobao’s official logistics guarantees cross-border users both transparent costs and stable delivery times. Depending on market conditions, Taobao offers tiered delivery commitments such as one, three and six day options, so Taobao’s distinctive products can be delivered to cross-border users on the scheduled date at the agreed shipping cost.

Under "convenience", users can access one-tap direct shipping, end-to-end parcel tracking, and flat-rate direct shipping for bulky items across 10 markets worldwide. Singapore has also introduced free shipping for large furniture, significantly lowering the barrier to using cross-border logistics. Under "assurance", Taobao promises compensation for any lost or damaged parcel, backed by one-stop platform customer service that assists users throughout the process. The Local Returns service is further upgraded in 13 markets, so more cross-border users can return items conveniently nearby.

Ye Tian, general manager of Taobao Tmall World, said: “The core value of Taobao is anchored in a cross-border catalogue of over three billion products offering quality at competitive prices, reinforced by trusted cross-border logistics and localised services we have been building in individual markets over time. Together, these cater to the shopping needs of cross-border users across different everyday scenarios and personal styles."

"Responding to users’ increasingly evolving expectations, we have launched an upgrade across six refreshed user experiences this year, spanning a curated supply system built on the four criteria of quality, distinctiveness, price competitiveness, and service, in-app feature enhancements, the new DISCOVER channel, advanced AI shopping assistants, a redesigned user interface for cross-border shoppers, and upgraded cross-border logistics," he added. 

He explained every critical touchpoint in the cross-border shopping journey has been refreshed. "We invite users everywhere to open the Taobao app now and experience the joy of discovery-driven shopping on ‘Everything and anything’ firsthand." 

Don't miss: Taobao taps Zhang Linghe for global Double 11 campaign

Starting this Double 11, Taobao is partnering with popular actor Zhang Linghe to introduce cross-border shoppers worldwide to the six refreshed experiences of the “Everything and anything” value proposition following its comprehensive upgrade: quality, taste, lifestyle, trendy, smart, and surprise. Through these upgrades, Taobao aims to lead global cross-border eCommerce shopping from traditional “shelf-based search” into a new era of “discovery-driven shopping.”

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