Alibaba's new partnership establishes China's 'first big data chemical products R&D lab'

E-commerce giant Alibaba has teamed up with personal care brand, Shanghai Jahwa to establish China's first big data chemical products R&D lab to optimize and upgrade product supply chains.

As part of the deal, Alibaba will bring its expertise in retail, cloud computing, big data and finance to the table while new products of all sub-brands of Shanghai Jahwa will make their exclusive debut on the group's platform, Tmall.com for two weeks.

It's the latest move for the ambitious Chinese e-tail giant to conquer the online shopping world after investing in a Singapore based center last September to cater to two-thirds of its outbound investment to Southeast Asia.

2015 witnessed explosive growth in online shopping overseas, with new buyers accounting for 28 per cent, and with a preference for local specialties in other countries and regions.

With this in mind, Alibaba's Singapore facility is its seventh globally and leverages on Alibaba's US$1 billion investment for cloud computing, enabling more businesses to benefit from secure and reliable cloud services while riding on record foreign direct investment flows in Southeast Asia.

With direct connections to Aliyun's data center network via Beijing, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Silicon Valley; Chinese businesses will also be a key focus.

"We are seeing healthy demand for cloud-related data management services in Singapore because of the ease of doing business, comprehensive transport and telecommunications connections and robust intellectual property regime. The stable geo-political climate and abundance of highly skilled talent are advantages too," says Sicheng (Ethan) Yu, Vice President of Aliyun.

Online shopping is rife in Asia

According to a report published by fellow Chinese e-tailer Taobao.com; online shoppers in China expanded their foothold to more than 100 countries and regions in 2015.

The most sought after products were reported to be cosmetics and skin care products, which have been bought by more than half of that 28 per cent of buyers.

Previously, Chinese buyers were thought to prefer shopping websites in Hong Kong and Macao but have now turned their attention to the likes of Japan and South Korea.

With 10 per cent of China's rural communities reportedly making a living selling products online, e-commerce retailers are making moves to invest in these merchants.

With little or no access to shopping malls, inhabitants of China's rural villages have no choice but to buy online, particularly with cosmetic products.

According to Kline, record numbers of consumers taking to the internet to make purchases has seen online beauty purchases spike by a record 200 per cent since 2006.

Although residents' incomes tend to be lower in small towns and counties, for every 100 yuan spent online; 57 yuan has been attributed to shoppers in third- and fourth-tier cities, greater than the national average of 39 yuan.

ln fact, the rural market will be worth 460 billion yuan ($74 billion) in 2016.

Both Taobao and Alibaba have caught on to this and are actively investing in growing these numbers.