The famous German football club FC Bayern Munich has launched in cooperation with DHL eCommerce an exclusive online shop for Chinese consumers on Tmall Global, an overseas platform and an extension of Alibaba Group's B2C Tmall business in China.
As part of its six-year partnership with FC Bayern Munich, DHL will leverage its international logistics and e-commerce expertise to help build the club's global merchandise business amongst its over 400 million followers worldwide. DHL eCommerce will manage many aspects of FC Bayern Munich's merchandising in China working with Tmall Global on product listing, order management, fulfillment of orders, local distribution and returns, local customer service and market entry support. After China, the partnership is planned to be extended to the whole Asia-Pacific region.
The new flagship store will enable over 90 million Chinese fans to purchase official fan merchandise from the world's leading football team and profit from a premium shopping experience, with DHL providing integrated end-to-end logistics services. For the first time, fans can now order a FC Bayern Munich jersey with their favorite player's name and also purchase a variety of fan merchandise ranging from genuine apparel for men, women and children as well as other unique goods including traditional German and Bavarian products of the football team.
Thomas Kipp, CEO of DHL eCommerce, said: "There couldn't be a better opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in e-commerce such as fulfillment and end-to-end delivery than launching the online flagship store of the world's biggest football club, FC Bayern Munich, on the world's biggest marketplace in China. We also have the added bonus to work even more closely with Tmall Global, China's leading online retail platform. Just like FC Bayern Munich, DHL is constantly striving to improve on our services and to perfect our game to build even more loyalty with our end consumers."
Jörg Wacker, Executive Board Member Internationalisation and Strategy of FC Bayern Munich, added: "China continues to be our key focus market and plays an important role in our internationalisation strategy. For our market entry in China, Tmall Global is the best platform since many of our fans already use the platform today. Together with our strategic partner DHL, we will ensure a fast delivery. This store is a big first step in expanding our touch points with our Chinese fan base and we will interact with our fans even more during our Audi Summer Tour China in July this year."
Jeff Zhang, President of China Retail Marketplaces of Alibaba Group, stressed that the flagship store will reflect the diversity of brands and goods on the Tmall Global platform as an important step in the group’s European strategy.Alibaba has 350 million users across its China retail platforms.
With over 255,000 members, FC Bayern Munich is the world's biggest football club and also one of the most successful having won 5 Champions League Titles, 3 Club World Cup trophies as well as 25 national championships. As part of its China tour in July this year, FC Bayern Munich will play three games in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. It will be the club’s second tour to China.
