Recognizing the great opportunities international commerce has for small business, the leading business-to-consumer marketplace in China, Alibaba, hosts an annual competition called “Go Global 11.11 Pitch Fest,” that helps small and medium-sized U.S. brands grow globally.
Alibaba just announced this year’s seven winning small business brands that will receive special support to succeed on its marketplace, specifically during its 11.11 festival that is now underway. The festival was established in 2009 and has since grown to 299,000 brands that reach 900 million Chinese consumers. The festival runs from November 1 to 3, and culminates with a main event on November 11.
The goal of the annual event is to raise awareness about the value of online shopping that U.S. consumers embraced even more during the pandemic. The winning U.S. small business brands will sell to China via the Tmall Overseas Fulfillment program in which they have been fast tracked to participate in the festival that is touted as the largest shopping event in the world and currently underway.
The winners serve to showcase Alibaba’s programs that help a small business to optimally use the marketplace platform. Their brands gain greater inventory flexibility, while experiencing lower logistical hurdles that would otherwise slow their success. They also receive marketing advice, tools, and resources.
“Chinese consumers are eager to try high-quality products from U.S. brands and the Pitch Fest is designed to help American small and medium-sized businesses find growth in China,” said Tony Shan, Head of Tmall Global for the Americas. “Using the 11.11 festival as a launch pad, this year’s Pitch Fest winners will be able to tap into this incredible opportunity to grow their brand awareness and sales in China.”
This year’s small business brand Pitch Fest winners are:
- California-based clean skincare brand Boscia that is a leader in the forefront of the nontoxic movement for nearly two decades,
- Oregon-based Schmidt’s, the first deodorant in the United States to be certified natural by Ecocert COSMOS Natural,
- Hawaii-based Honey Girl Organics, a clean skincare brand whose honey-based products free of parabens, hormones, silicones, petroleum products and preservatives,
- SBLA Beauty, a technology-driven anti-aging solution that boosts collagen and smooths and tightens the skin,
- California-based Vegamour, a hair wellness brand offering consumers safe and effective natural products that stimulate hair growth,
- New York-based basq NYC, a maternity skincare brand whose plant-based moisturizers improve skin elasticity while relieving the tightness and itchiness often occurring during pregnancy; and
- Texas-based Bella Belle, a maker of exquisite, handcrafted bridal and special occasion shoes designed for comfort as well as beauty.
Alibaba brings attention to the several clean beauty and skincare brands chosen as winners that are launching in China at the opportune moment of the 11.11 festival. The company also notes the growing interest of Chinese consumers in natural, plant-based ingredients that is part of the China skincare market forecasted to reach nearly $40 billion by 2027—for which there is a particularly high demand for quality beauty and personal care products offered by American brands.
Alibaba touts the success of its marketplace for small business where they sold more than $54 billion worth of goods to Chinese consumers in 2020. Just since January 2021 approximately 200 U.S. brands have launched on Tmall Global enabling them to sell directly to hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers without having to establish physical operations in China.
