Arsenal Football Club has announced it has opened a new official e-commerce store for their Chinese supporters on the TMALL platform.
The online store which is in simplified Chinese will be the clubs official e-commerce store in the country. This follows Arsenal’s first Asian tour in 2011 and their yearly official visits to China. The London clubs fanbase has increased massively; over four million fans are engaging on Arsenal’s Chinese digital platforms which included: Wechat, Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo.
Simon Lilley, Arsenal’s Director of Retail, said: “We are delighted to be launching the Arsenal e-commerce store for China on the popular TMALL platform with Venue Retail International as our partners.”
“China continues to be a very important market for Arsenal. The fanbase has grown dramatically as a result of the summer tours and sustained digital fan engagement through the likes of Weibo and Wechat. The new store will give our fans in China the chance to buy a wide range of official products locally.”
The Gunner’s retail focus and future investments are now more heavily concentrated on e-commerce and regionalising its outlets in order to bring global supporters closer to Arsenal and with their new e-commerce store, Arsenal are now the first English football club to have their own TMALL store in China. TMALL is a business-to-consumer market place owned by the Alibaba Group and is currently the seventh most visited site in China.
To launch the site, Arsenal have partnered with Venue Retail International. Peter Palmer, Chief Operating Officer of Venue Retail International said: “The Premier League has become one of the most popular sports in China and Arsenal are arguably the most widely followed. We are proud to be able to offer these knowledgeable fans official Arsenal product through the Arsenal TMALL store to enable them to connect with the club they love.”
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