Taobao revamps website as part of experience optimisation strategy

Alibaba Group’s marketplace Taobao has revamped its website in preparation for the upcoming "618 shopping festival." The festival is known as one of the largest mid-year shopping events in China.

It comes as Taobao found that users visiting its website span across all age groups, with young users such as university students, white-collar workers, designers, and programmers accounting for nearly 40% of the user base. 

Therefore, Taobao has upgraded its web version as part of its overall experience optimisation strategy, with the website and app complementing each other to improve user experience, product supply, and content supply.

After the update, Taobao said consumers who browse Taobao.com will notice a simplified sales experience, from staying logged in longer to seeing coupons and product details in their shopping carts.

Meanwhile, merchants will also find it easier to decorate their store pages, while corporate purchasing users can now access payment and invoice functions from Taobao.com, according to Taobao.

To further improve user experience, Taobao has revived its user forum "Taojianghu (淘江湖), which launched in 2009 as a venue for consumers to share product feedback but was eventually shuttered. 

In the next stage, Taobao said it will further explore AI-powered eCommerce scenarios and harness the unique advantages of large screens.

“The ultimate goal is to make users browse Taobao more happily and smoothly at any time and place,” said Kong Wu, who leads Taobao’s website business department.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Alibaba for more information. 

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In fact, Taobao.com’s revamp lands in the midst of preparations for the “618 shopping festival”, which has had a facelift of its own on Taobao and Tmall.

There will be no pre-sales during this shopping festival, and the promotional period will instead be divided into two waves of purchasing windows, the first in late May and the second extending until 20June.

Taobao said it will launch a simplified merchant registration process that, brands that meet platform conditions can apply from this week onwards for their products to be included in the sales, while consumers can rest easy thanks to full price guarantees from the time of payment until 5 July.

Earlier this year, Taobao leadership announced it would invest more heavily in content e-commerce, such as livestreaming, with the goal of doubling users year-on-year.

“Constant growth has always been our unique advantage,” said Mu Shan, general manager of FMCG at Taobao and Tmall Group. The group consists of Taobao and business-to-consumer retail site Tmall, as well as wholesale marketplace 1688.com and other businesses.

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