In this illustration taken on October 25, 2023, the logo of Alibaba’s e-commerce app Taobao is shown next to a phone displaying the app.
Reuters | Luo Furong
Singapore—Chinese e-commerce giant AlibabaTaobao shopping app ranks No. 1 apple After being released in English on Tuesday, it topped the Singapore App Store charts – thanks to artificial intelligence-powered translations.
This is based on sensor towerAs of September 11, Taobao ranked first in all categories in Apple’s Singapore App Store, according to market intelligence company data. 5th place to 1st place In the shopping category.
Previously, according to Sensor Tower data, the Taobao app still enjoyed relatively high popularity and has been among the top ten shopping apps for iPhone users since mid-August.
Alibaba said the new update “underscores Taobao’s commitment to serving Singaporean users, who have shown a strong desire for an English-language interface, reflecting their fluency in multiple languages”. press release issued Tuesday. It did not elaborate on the AI ​​translation feature. The company owns its own AI model.
The press release said the new platform “enhances accessibility for non-Chinese users, eliminating their previous need for manual translation, which made shopping less convenient for them.”
Taobao and Tmall are by far Alibaba’s biggest sources of revenue, but so far they have mainly sold to Chinese people who use Chinese-language interfaces. Taobao and Tmall Group’s revenue was 26.55 billion yuan ($3.65 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, up 6% from the year.
In recent years, Alibaba has also sought to expand its overseas e-commerce business through platforms such as Alibaba and AliExpress.
According to Alibaba, Singapore is the first market where Taobao will roll out the new update, along with Singapore’s neighbor Malaysia.
As early as last year, Singaporean Taobao users created guides on how to buy clothes, furniture and daily necessities from Taobao. The video guides are posted on the TikTok platform, another Chinese app owned by ByteDance. Several videos have been viewed more than 10,000 times, including one video that has been viewed 105,000 times.
Alibaba’s latest move reflects Chinese companies’ efforts to expand globally, with Singapore at the center Cultural test bed Further realizing their ambition to enter the Western market.
Last week, consultancy Bain & Company said in a study of consumer products companies headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region that Chinese companies are Advantages Competing with Korean and Japanese companies in the race for globalization: A large Chinese diaspora has settled outside mainland China.
David Zehner, a senior partner at Bain & Company, said: “Many Chinese companies do have an ambitious global mindset and are able to leverage the entrepreneurial, rapid innovation capabilities they have built at home and use that to create overseas New positions.
According to the government The report shows that as of June 2023, nearly three-quarters of Singapore’s 5.92 million population are of Chinese descent. about 20% of Malaysia’s population It’s Chinese.
Not a perfect English experience
Taobao users in Singapore and Malaysia can buy a range of products – from electronics to shoes to kitchenware – and have them delivered to their doorsteps for a small shipping fee. Prices are listed in Chinese yuan.
The new version of Taobao can convert prices from yuan to Singapore dollars, and product descriptions will also be available in English.
But as of Thursday, the user experience was far from perfect.
A check by CNBC found that prices were not converted from Chinese yuan to Singapore dollars, despite a change in currency display options. The translation is also very straightforward. However, English translation options are also available for product reviews.
Social media users in Singapore were quick to highlight the new features, despite their flaws.
One day after the announcement, an individual user took to TikTok to show users how to change the Taobao app display to English. The video received 947,000 views in one day.
Sensor Tower told CNBC that Taobao’s average monthly active users in Singapore reached 167,000 in the third quarter of 2024.
