Open Tmall Global Store

Opening a Tmall global merchant store is a good way to dive into China market, to sell products and make money. Although Tmall is targeting in Chinese consumers, but Tmall global is for foreign-company to sell products to Chinese consumers. In this article I will show you what needed to open Tmall global store, and how can an overseas company open Tmall global store.

China has a population of 1.4 billion. The total China Household Wealth will reach $85.1T in 2022, the United States will reach $145.8T. That said, China is the second richest country in the world. It also means China is the world’s second-largest consumer market.

The data from CNNIC shows that the user size of online shopping in China was 841 million and the user size of online payment in China had reached 904 million.

It all proofed that China is a big market. Don’t hesitate, take actions like Elon Musk did.

Table of contents

• What is Tmall global
• Can foreigners sell on Tmall global
• Tmall Vs Tmall Global Vs Taobao
• The store type of Tmall Global
• Requirements for Tmall store setup
  • Brand flagship store (品牌旗舰店)
  • Marketplace flagship store (卖场型旗舰店)
  • Industrial marketplace flagship store(行业卖场型旗舰店)
  • Exclusive store (专卖店)
  • Galaxy Franchise Store (银河专营店)
• What you need to prepare for opening Tmall Global store
• Open Tmall Global Flagship Store
• What are the Fees for Tmall Global store
• Do I need an agency to open Tmall global store?

What is Tmall global

Tmall is one of the biggest Chinese B2C e-commerce platform. And Tmall Global is for selling foreign brand products to China market. It was launched for overseas company to sell foreign products to China only.

Tmall Global is the platform of choice for Chinese consumers looking to buy quality imported products. It has over 100 million Active Consumers, 39000 Overseas Brands.

The company registered in mainland China can open Tmall store, but can not open Tmall global. Tmall global only accepts overseas companies.

It accepts the company from all over the world as long as meet the requirements.

The solutions for overseas companies:

• Flagship Store (Brand Awareness Building)
• Tmall Direct Import (Sell to Tmall Global [B2B])
• Ministore (Incubation For SMBs)
• Overseas Fulfillment (Direct Mail)

Can foreigners sell on Tmall global

Absolutely yes.

Tmall global was launched and designed for foreign-company only. The whole products on Tmall global has to be foreign brand. That is the first rule.

However, individuals are not allowed to setup Tmall store or Tmall global store. It has to be company. That’s the second rule.

And other detailed requirements I’ll post below.

Tmall Vs Tmall Global Vs Taobao

Taobao, Tmall, and Tmall global are all owned by Alibaba Group. They are all popular e-commerce platforms in China. The main target consumers are the Chinese from mainland China.

Taobao is a C2C e-commerce platform. No matter whether individuals or companies all can open store and sell products on there.

Tmall is a B2C e-commerce platform. It only accepts Chinese companies which hold brand/trademark (or are authorized).

Tmall Global is a B2C e-commerce platform that only accepts overseas companies holding foreign brands.

Due to the different qualification of store opening. The standards of product and service are different. Generally speaking, Taobao provides wide range of products with low price and poor quality. Tmall and Tmall global provide higher price and good quality products. And therefore it costs more than opening Taobao store as well.

As for shopping habits and traffic, the Chinese may install Taobao app or open Taobao website only. But when people search for products they want to buy on Taobao, the products from Tmall or Tmall Global will always show up top in the search results.

Which means, compared to Taobao, Chinese consumers trust the products from Tmall or Tmall global more.

The store type of Tmall Global

There are six store types for you to choose from on Tmall global. They are the Brand flagship store, Marketplace flagship store, Industrial marketplace flagship store, Exclusive store, Specialty store, and Galaxy Franchise Store.

You should choose wisely before you get started. If you need help with that, feel free to email me.

• Brand flagship store (品牌旗舰店)
• Marketplace flagship store (卖场型旗舰店)
• Industrial marketplace flagship store (行业卖场型旗舰店)
• Exclusive store (专卖店)
• Specialty store (专营店)
• Galaxy Franchise Store (银河专营店)

Requirements for Tmall store setup

The different store type needs different qualifications. Read them carefully and then decide to open Tmall global store.

Brand flagship store (品牌旗舰店):

1. A scanned copy of the original Trademark Registration Certificate or acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application shall be provided for each brand sold in the store. If the acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application is provided, additional information on the non-registered trademark is required.

2. If the owner of the store is not a trademark holder, it is also required to provide an exclusive power of attorney issued by the trademark holder.

Marketplace flagship store (卖场型旗舰店):

1. A scanned copy of the original Trademark Registration Certificate or acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application shall be provided for each brand operated by the store. If the acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application is provided, additional information on the non-registered trademark is required.

2. For brands operated by the store, the store needs to provide the complete authorization or purchase invoices obtained from the trademark owners within four tiers.

Industrial marketplace flagship store(行业卖场型旗舰店):

1. A scanned copy of the original Trademark Registration Certificate or acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application shall be provided for each brand operated by the store. If the acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application is provided, additional information on the non-registered trademark is required.

2. For brands in the main industries operated by the store, the store needs to provide the complete authorization or purchase invoices from the trademark owner within four tiers. If products sold by the store fall under the categories of Beauty, Health Care, or the sub-categories of Maternal and Infant Supplies, including Milk Powder/Food Supplements/Nutritional Products/Snacks, Maternal Milk Powder, Maternal Nutritional Products, or Postpartum Nutritional Products, the store needs to provide the complete purchase invoices from the trademark owner within two tiers.

3. If the store operates a brand out of its main industries, it needs to provide a first-tier letter of authorization or purchase invoices from the trademark owner of this brand.

Industrial marketplace flagship store (行业卖场型旗舰店):

1. A scanned copy of the original Trademark Registration Certificate or acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application shall be provided for each brand sold in the store. If the acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application is provided, additional information on the non-registered trademark is required.

2. Letter of authorization issued by the trademark owner.

Exclusive store (专卖店):

1. A scanned copy of the original Trademark Registration Certificate or acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application shall be provided for each brand operated by the store. If the acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application is provided, additional information on the non-registered trademark is required.

2. If the store is authorized by the trademark owner to operate the brand and sell its goods, the store needs to provide the complete letter of authorization or purchase invoices from the trademark owner in accordance with the requirements for the authorization tier in the industry.

Galaxy Franchise Store (银河专营店)

There are no any specific requirements for Tmall Galaxy Franchise Store.

NOTE: The first-level authorization with the brand as the source refers to a situation where the trademark holder directly authorizes the store opening company to sell the goods of its brand. The complete authorization within two levels with the brand as the source refers to a situation where the trademark holder authorizes others to sell the goods of its brand, and such authorized parties then authorize the store opening company to sell the goods of the brand. Complete authorization within two levels/three levels/four levels with the brand as the source can be described by analogy.

For example, if A is a trademark holder and C is a store opening company, the authorization link within two levels provided by C is A-B-C.

What you need to prepare for opening Tmall Global store

Like I said, different types of Tmall Global store need different qualifications. I list the main requirements/documents below.

Registration documents of the main company of the store:

• Registration documents of the company include but are not limited to the business/institution registration certificate, business license, business certificate, and certificate of incorporation.
• If any company registration document contains a validity period, confirm that the document is valid.
• The company name in the company registration documents shall be consistent with the name of the main company of the store.
• If the company information (including but not limited to the company name and address) changes, submit a change document.
• Non-Chinese/English documents must be submitted along with a Chinese/English version. The translation must be signed by the authorized representative of the main company of the store.

Statement of the authorized representative of the main company of the store:

• The authorized representative’s statement shall be filled in according to the template and submitted.
• The authorized representative’s statement shall be signed by the CEO or Director of the Board of the main company of the store, together with the printed name and position of the signatory.
• If the authorized representative and the signatory are the same, a Director’s certificate or the company’s equity certificate issued by the government agency shall be supplemented. For Hong Kong companies, the corporate establishment certificate or annual review document may be provided as an alternative.
• In the authorized representative’s statement, the validity period shall be filled in the form of month/day/year, and the end time shall be later than the end of the current natural year. (For merchants who become registered during the renewal season, the end time of the validity period shall be later than the end of the next natural year.)

Identity document of the authorized representative of the main company of the store

• A scanned copy of the identity document of the authorized person in the authorized representative’s statement shall be submitted.
• Identity documents include but are not limited to ID card, passport, and driver’s license.
• If any identity document contains a validity period, confirm that the document is valid.
• This document shall be signed, and the signed name shall be consistent with the name on the document.

Overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement of the main company of the store

• The overseas bank account opening certificate or bank statement shall be issued by the bank (the name of which can be verified in the document). Documents issued by the company itself will not be recognized.
• The document shall clearly state the name and bank account information of the main company of the store.
• Non-Chinese/English documents must be submitted along with a Chinese/English version. The translation must be signed by the authorized representative of the main company of the store.

Trademark registration certificate from the brand’s birthplace

• A scanned copy of the original Trademark Registration Certificate or acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application from the place of origin shall be provided for each brand. If the acceptance letter of the Trademark Registration Application is provided, additional information on the non-registered trademark is required.
• The trademark registration class shall correspond to the goods to be operated (for example, if the store operates cosmetics, the trademark registration class shall be 3).
• The trademark registration certificate shall be valid.
• If the trademark changes (including but not limited to the change of the registrant, extension of the validity period of the trademark, and change of the address of the registrant), submit a change certificate issued by the Trademark Office.
• Non-Chinese/English documents must be submitted along with a Chinese/English version. The translation must be signed by the authorized representative of the main company of the store.

Monopolizing authorization issued by the trademark holder (required if the main company of the store is not the trademark holder)

• When the main company of the store is not the trademark holder, a monopolizing authorization for store opening issued by the trademark holder shall be submitted. If the main company of the store and the trademark holder are the same (the name is the same), such an authorization is not needed.
• The monopolizing authorization for store opening shall be filled in according to the template (two pages in total) and submitted.
• The CEO or Director of the Board of the trademark holder shall sign on the first page of the monopolizing authorization for store opening, along with the printed name and position of the signatory (if the document is signed by a person other than the CEO or Director, an authorization letter for signing or internal decision letter of the company shall be submitted as evidence that the signatory has the right to sign relevant documents). If the trademark holder is an individual, a scanned copy of a valid identity document (passport/ID card/driver’s license) signed by the individual shall be supplemented. The second page shall be signed by the main company of the store and by the authorized representative.
• In the monopolizing authorization for store opening, the validity period shall be filled in the form of month/day/year, and the end time shall be later than the end of the current natural year. (For merchants who become registered during the renewal season, the end time of the validity period shall be later than the end of the next natural year.)

Open Tmall Global Flagship Store

1. Submit your Application:

Choose your Store Type/Brand/Category, And Enter your Brand/Company Information.

2. Check your Eligibility:

Brand Assessment and Qualification Review.

3. Store Preparation:

Activate your Alipay Global Account and Pay the Store Deposit.

4. Open your Flagship Store:

List your Products and Design your Store, Pay the Store Annual Fee, and Launch your Store. You need to Launch your Flagship Store in 30 Days.

What are the Fees for Tmall Global store

The fees of Tmall global are including Security Deposit, Annual Technology Service Fee and Real-Time Deduction of Technical Service Fee. (The store type and product category charged differently!)

1. Security Deposit: (RMB 50000 – RMB 300000)

Any Merchant that operates on Tmall Global must pay a security deposit. The security deposit is used to ensure that Merchants operate in accordance with the rules of Tmall Global, and to ensure that Merchants pay the penalties to Tmall Global and customers in accordance with the “Tmall Global Merchant Services Agreement” and other related rules and regulations when Merchants are in breach. 

2. Annual Technical Service Fee: (RMB 30000 – RMB 60000)

Merchants that operate on Tmall Global must pay an annual fee. The annual fee amount will take reference to A-level categories, and is divided into two price rates: RMB 30,000 or RMB 60,000. 

3. Real-Time Deduction of Technical Service Fee: (service rate 2%-5%)

Merchants that operate on Tmall Global must pay a technical service fee in accordance with a certain percentage of its sales. The technical services rate is 2%-5% on average.

Do I need an agency to open Tmall global store?

This is a good question. Many companies ask me “Do I need an agency or hire someone to open Tmall global store?”

Apparently, agency means cost extra money. If you can read Chinese characters and provides all the documents needed. Then you can open Tmall global store by yourself to save your budget.

I mean, you need to understand Chinese well and the rules of Tmall global opening process. If there is a slight mistake, it may cause a huge loss. Just be careful of that.

Opening a Tmall global store is not the end, it’s the start of your online business in China market. The final goal is increasing sales.

Which means you need experts to design your store, write title and description, brand protection, and increase brand awareness. Of course, help you to deal with penalties as well.

NOTE: Tmall global is a e-commerce store but it can only increase your brand awareness on this platform. You should also need to keep an eye on other Chinese social media marketing.

All those things have to be Chinese to help you. Not only they know Chinese language well, but also they know the Chinese consumer habits and how to generate sales.

So, I think Chinese agency or agent is what you must need.