Royal Mail to sell Brompton Bicycles to Chinese market

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Royal Mail is looking to take advantage of the growing eCommerce market in China via the launch of an online shop front on Alibaba's Tmall Global marketplace, which is the largest business-to-consumer retail platform in Asia.

The UK organisation is planning to sell distinctive British products on the platform, from companies such as Brompton Bicycles.

Around half of the internet-using population in China are said to shop online, meaning British brands selling goods via the new site can tap into a market of 302 million online Chinese consumers. The platform is scheduled to go live before the end of March.

Royal Mail group CEO Moya Greene unveiled the new initiative at the GREAT Festival of Creativity in Chinese capital Shanghai, saying: "Royal Mail's new shop front will help support British retailers and exporters expanding into the China market, fulfilling the strong demand of Chinese consumers for authentic, high quality British goods."

She added: "Online shopping, and the connection it facilitates between retailers and consumers is a key channel to develop sustainable trade between China and Britain and we are excited at the prospect of offering UK companies a new and streamlined way to increase the accessibility of their products to Chinese consumers."

Royal Mail said that British retailers and exporters now have access to the potentially lucrative Chinese market, without the challenges they would otherwise face such as local customer support service, customs duties, shipping and logistics.

Brompton CEO Will Butler-Adams commented: "We are excited about the opportunity to sell a range of Brompton Bicycles on Royal Mail's new Tmall Global Storefront, which will provide easy access into the China market and a direct connection with Chinese consumers."

There are a number of British retailers operating on Tmall, including online fashion house Asos.

The business announced the opening of ASOS.Tmall.com last April – a move that extended the already established Asos Chinese operation to a wider audience in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The site launched stocking more than 2,500 products.