The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Worldwide TOP Partner Alibaba Group announced the launch of the first-ever Olympic store on Tmall, China’s largest B2C marketplace for brands and retailers.
The new Olympic store will be initially available to Chinese fans on Alibaba’s Tmall, with additional plans in development to create a global ecommerce platform for fans around the world. The Olympic store on Tmall has been launched as part of the new IOC Global Licensing Strategy, which aims to engage and connect with fans seeking official Olympic branded merchandise, in line with Olympic Agenda 2020. The launch was announced at the second annual Tmall Winter Festival in Zhangjiakou, a three-day online and offline retail event to generate excitement for winter sports among Chinese consumers.
The Olympic store on Tmall will offer official products developed as part of three Olympic core licensing collections, aimed at engaging Chinese fans all year round. The Olympic Games Collection celebrates the upcoming Olympic Games and includes branded products from the Beijing 2022 and Tokyo 2020 Games, such as pins, apparel and other memorabilia. The Olympic Heritage Collection will feature products that include art and design elements from previous Games editions, such as postcards of historical Olympic posters, connecting fans and connoisseurs with the rich heritage of the Olympic Games. Finally, the Olympic Collection will target a young and active audience through unique branded products, mainly sports equipment and toys.
Timo Lumme, IOC TMS managing director, said: “We are delighted to launch our first Olympic store on Alibaba’s Tmall in China, one of the world’s largest ecommerce marketplaces. The launch was made possible thanks to the support of our Worldwide Olympic Partner Alibaba’s technology and expertise, as well as our partnership with the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2022. The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will be a landmark moment for China and the Olympic Movement, and from today we look forward to offering the latest exciting Olympic products to Chinese Olympic fans through our new Olympic store on Alibaba’s platform.”
Chris Tung, Alibaba Group chief marketing officer, commented: “The launch of the first Olympic store on Alibaba’s Tmall is an important milestone in our long-term partnership with the IOC. We are proud to leverage Alibaba’s technology and ecosystem to provide more opportunities for Chinese fans to celebrate the heritage of the Games and join in the excitement for Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the IOC to connect more fans in China and from around the world to the Olympic Movement in the digital era.”
Piao Xuedong, director of the Beijing 2022 Marketing Department, said: “We are proud to work with both the IOC and Alibaba to present the Olympic store on Tmall to Chinese Olympic fans today. It is the first time in the history of the Olympic Movement that Olympic fans can use an online store to look for licensed products both from the historical Olympic Games and the upcoming Olympic Games. Beijing 2022 is getting full value by innovating the licensing programme today. Our licensing team will keep supporting the Olympic store on Tmall by providing more wonderful products in the future.”
In December 2017, Alibaba Group, in partnership with the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee, introduced the official online shop for Beijing 2022 on Tmall to help promote the Games among fans in China.
Alibaba Group and the IOC entered a historic, long-term strategic partnership in January 2017 to help transform the Olympic Games for the digital era. Alibaba Group serves as the official “Cloud Services” and “E-Commerce Platform Services” Partner of the IOC, and is a Founding Partner of the Olympic Channel through to the 2028 Games.
