CHINA. In a key meeting today, Xavier Rossinyol, CEO of duty free to food & beverage powerhouse Dufry, visited Alibaba Xixi Park (Taobao City) in Hangzhou to meet Liu Peng, President of Industry Development 2 Department of Taobao Tmall Commercial Group, and other senior executives.
The two sides pledged their intention to deepen cooperation in digitalisation; expand the introduction of global duty free products; improve the efficiency of the import retail supply chain; and strengthen consumer membership schemes.
With the relaunch of outbound tourism, the global tourism market is recovering and the demand for duty free consumption will grow further, the two parties said.
Dufry and Alibaba promised to continue promoting in-depth cooperation and continuously serve Chinese consumers’ demand for duty free goods and imported brands across popular overseas destinations.
In late 2022, Liu Peng led an overseas investment mission to Japan, South Korea and Europe, and held a cooperation meeting with Dufry’s team in Basel, Switzerland. At that time, the two sides said they should continue to collaborate to deepen the consumer import market in China.
To make it easier for Chinese outbound travellers to purchase duty free goods, Dufry has accelerated its digitalisation strategy with Alibaba’s digital technology support.
As a result, Dufry has launched an ecommerce mini-application for Chinese consumers, which connects to the travel retailer’s duty free goods booking and membership systems.
This allows consumers to log in, book and purchase duty free goods offered by Dufry’s shops worldwide.
In December last year, the mini-program jointly developed by the two companies was released for Dufry China’s Macau shops. Since then the number of users has been climbing steadily, with the number of members added daily this month being several times higher than in early 2023.
Over the coming year, Dufry shops in more than 20 popular destinations around the world will have access to this mini-program.
Rossinyol said: “We are currently at the China Hainan Consumer Expo and I have just arrived in Hangzhou from Haikou to experience first-hand the new opportunities of the continuously opening Chinese market.
“I would like to thank Alibaba and its team for their strong support in developing our digital platform and very much look forward to continuing new collaborations in the import sector in the future.”
Liu Peng commented: “After our last meeting in Basel, Switzerland, it was great to meet with the Dufry team again so soon to talk about the progress and plans for cooperation.
“With the liberalisation of outbound travel right now, global destinations will be welcoming long-lost Chinese tourists one after another, and there is more and more room for the duty free market to grow.
“We look forward to our continued collaboration to deepen the consumer import market and look forward to supporting Dufry’s digital development globally through more digital innovation partnerships.”
As revealed, in October 2020 Dufry announced a joint venture with Alibaba to develop duty free retail business in China. In January 2021, Hainan Development Holdings Limited joined hands with Alibaba and Dufry to create the near 40,000sq m Hainan Development Holdings’ Global Premium Duty Free (GDF) Plaza.
In line with the partnership, Dufry is assisting GDF Plaza in introducing a range of global brands across the beauty, wines & spirits, fashion & accessories, and luxury categories. Alibaba provides online channel operations and retail technology solutions. ✈
