TikTok Shop Triples Black Friday Sales to Over $100 Million; Alibaba Invests $71 Million in South Korea's Ably
Latest news and analysis on China’s global e-sellers
Here’s our pick for last week’s news:
TikTok Regional Headquarters in Riyadh to Open in Early 2025
SHEIN Named Best New E-commerce Platform in Spain for 2024
Miravia Expands into Portugal Following Success in Spain
TikTok Shop Triples Black Friday Sales to Over $100 Million
Alibaba Invests $71 Million in South Korea's Ably
Hanvon Debuts Penstar Brand to Capture Global E-Paper Market
TikTok Shop, Temu, and Shein Lead U.S. Holiday Sales Growth
TikTok Regional Headquarters in Riyadh to Open in Early 2025
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew announced plans to establish the company's regional headquarters in Riyadh by early 2025. Speaking at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference, Chew highlighted the opportunity to showcase Saudi Arabia's culture and heritage to a global audience.
Saudi Arabia has become a key market for TikTok in the Arab world. The platform aims to foster partnerships across various sectors to help local businesses achieve their marketing goals.
Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih shared that the Kingdom now hosts 540 international companies—exceeding the 2030 target of 500. A new policy requiring foreign firms to establish regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia to secure government contracts has further accelerated this trend.
SHEIN Named Best New E-commerce Platform in Spain for 2024
SHEIN has been ranked Spain's Best New E-commerce Platform for 2024 by Marketplaces Hoy and included in its list of top recommended platforms. This year, SHEIN surpassed global giants like Leroy Merlin and MediaMarkt to claim the top spot.
Additionally, a new report by DCDX placed SHEIN among the 25 most popular brands for Generation Z in 2024, alongside Disney, Roblox, Apple, and ChatGPT. Notably, SHEIN was the only fashion brand in the Top 25 and one of only two e-commerce platforms, alongside Amazon.
According to the ECDB report, SHEIN captured 11% of Spain's fashion market share in 2023, outpacing local leaders Zara (6%) and H&M (3%). Over the past year, SHEIN also launched pop-up stores in Barcelona, Seville, and Madrid.
Miravia Expands into Portugal Following Success in Spain
Alibaba's Miravia has launched its marketplace in Portugal, building on its success in Spain. The platform aims to offer Portuguese consumers an alternative shopping experience while providing Spanish brands and sellers the chance to enter the Portuguese market.
Since its launch in Spain nearly two years ago, Miravia has brought together over 12,000 brands and sellers, offering more than 17 million products. More than 1,200 brands have opened official stores on the platform.
CEO Yann Fontaine expressed confidence in Portugal's potential, emphasizing Miravia's goal to offer a diverse range of products for everyday needs and give brands the opportunity to connect directly with consumers.
The platform's Portuguese launch includes more than 2,000 brands, sellers, and retailers, with an initial product offering of 3.5 million items across various categories, including beauty, fashion, electronics, and more. Miravia aims to become a key player for both large brands and local businesses in Portugal, helping them grow and increase revenue.
TikTok Shop Triples Black Friday Sales to Over $100 Million
TikTok Shop tripled its U.S. sales on Black Friday, surpassing $100 million, signaling the platform's growing e-commerce power despite looming regulatory challenges. The app also saw a 165% increase in shoppers between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. More than 7 billion views were generated from posts with the hashtags #tiktokshopblackfriday and #tiktokshopcybermonday, TikTok said.
The sales spike comes as TikTok faces potential shutdowns under a new law signed by President Joe Biden, citing national security concerns over its Chinese ownership. However, the sales boost suggests that the platform's 170 million U.S. users and its value to sellers remain intact.
TikTok launched its U.S. shopping hub in September 2023, and its success in Black Friday sales is a result of a targeted push to expand its e-commerce presence. ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, aims to grow its U.S. e-commerce business by tenfold, to $17.5 billion, in 2024.
While small and medium-sized businesses accounted for a third of sales between Nov. 13 and Dec. 2, major brands like Crocs, Fenty Beauty, and Estée Lauder were also top sellers. Live-stream shopping, popular in China but still emerging in the U.S., also contributed to the surge in sales.
Alibaba Invests $71 Million in South Korea's Ably
Alibaba Group has made its first-ever investment in South Korea, acquiring a 5% stake in fashion app operator Ably Corp. for $71.4 million. The deal values Ably at $2.1 billion, making it South Korea's first unicorn startup of 2024.
This move highlights Alibabas push into South Korea's booming online fashion market, where its platform, AliExpress, is already competing with local giants like Coupang and Gmarket, as well as Chinese rivals Temu and Shein. Ably, which specializes in women's fashion, has seen steady growth in a competitive market, and Alibaba's investment positions it to tap further into this demand.
Hanvon Debuts Penstar Brand to Capture Global E-Paper Market
In November, Beijing-based tech company Hanvon unveiled Penstar, its new brand targeting the global electronic paper (e-paper or intelligent paper) market. Launched in North America in August, Penstar has already established an online presence. The global e-paper market is expected to reach $72.3 billion by 2025, with strong growth in large-format e-readers, which saw shipments of 15 million units in 2022, growing over 15% YoY.
Hanvon, which initially built its reputation on handwriting pens and tablets, now sees e-paper as a core part of its transformation. The company has expanded its product range to include e-paper devices for reading, writing, office use, and education, integrating advanced AI models. In 2023, Hanvon reported a 273% revenue increase, surpassing 100 million yuan ($13.74 million), with a 10% rise in gross margin.
Founded in 1998, Hanvon pioneered handwriting recognition and OCR technologies. It holds dominant market shares in these fields—over 70% in handwriting recognition and 50% in OCR. Hanvon's technology is widely adopted by global players like Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, and Lenovo.
TikTok Shop, Temu, and Shein Lead U.S. Holiday Sales Growth
On December 3rd, Earnest Analytics published its early sales report for the 2024 holiday season in the U.S. Chinese ecommerce brands have so far outperformed other retailers in this holiday season.
TikTok Shop has outpaced other retailers this holiday season, with sales up 213.2% year-over-year (YoY). Notably, TikTok Shop sales exceeded those of HomeGoods, despite not participating in October sales events. The platform's growth follows a successful July promotion and underscores its increasing traction among consumers.
Temu saw an 18.1% YoY sales increase in the first 13 days of the holiday shopping season. While customer growth has slowed recently, Temu is positioned to capture a larger share of hobby and party supply spending, which typically peaks during the holidays.