Tmall.hk launches duty-free shopping platform

HANGZHOU - Tmall.hk, an online shopping platform for overseas goods under e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba, launched an international duty-free shopping platform on Tuesday.

Consumers with outbound air tickets can purchase duty-free goods via Tmall.hk's website or mobile app and retrieve their items at designated duty-free shops using their payment confirmation text or barcode when they finish their overseas trips.

The Shilla Duty-free Shop of the Republic of Korea and Thailand's KingPower Duty-free Shop have both signed agreements with Tmall.hk to sell their products via the platform.

Tmall.hk said it has rolled out a variety of promotions for the initial phase to attract more customers.

Chinese consumers spent more than 1 trillion yuan ($163 billion) overseas last year as outbound travelers from China exceeded 100 million. Duty-free shops were a major source of purchases for Chinese travelers.

"We hope to create a new form of overseas shopping for Chinese people via this platform," said Liu Peng, president of Tmall.hk.

Liu said Tmall.hk is in negotiations with a number of foreign and domestic duty-free shops to help shoppers buy products from more countries and regions.