SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) announced today the opening of the Robert Mondavi Wines exclusive flagship store on Tmall.com, to officially kick off its newly launched “Tmall Vineyard Direct” program on its Tmall.com marketplace, China’s largest third-party platform for brands and retailers.
Robert Mondavi, one of the most historic and esteemed wine brands in California, has chosen Tmall.com as the first and only online destination to reach hundreds of millions of consumers in China. It reflects Tmall’s status as the premiere platform for brands and retailers who wish to establish their online presence and direct engagement with customers. The opening of the Robert Mondavi Wines flagship store on Tmall.com marks the official launch of the “Tmall Vineyard Direct” program, where Tmall will work directly with wineries globally, to bring the finest and best selection of wines from around the world to the Chinese consumer market. With the opening of the exclusive flagship store on Tmall.com, Chinese consumers will be able to purchase a wide range of authentic, high-quality Robert Mondavi wines bottled and shipped from the wineries in the U.S., including labels such as Robert Mondavi Winery, Robert Mondavi Private Selection, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, and Twin Oaks by Robert Mondavi.
“We are honored that Robert Mondavi, one of the most reputed wine brands in the U.S. and in the world, has chosen Tmall as the exclusive online platform to grow their business in China,” said Gary Clubb, Head of International Business Development at Tmall.com, Alibaba Group. “Working directly with the winery itself is key to a robust supply chain and allows us to leverage the power of the Alibaba ecosystem to pioneer innovative sales and marketing campaigns to the 367 million buyers on our platforms.”
“Over the past few years, we have seen a very encouraging uptake in Chinese tourists visiting our wineries in California, as well as wine sales in China,” said Philip Kingston, SVP of International, Constellation Brands. “This exclusive flagship store on Tmall allows us to sell our wines to Chinese consumers in a marketplace which we believe will build our brand. It also strengthens our presence in China as we expect to benefit from Alibaba’s sophisticated data analytics capabilities and extensive customer insights.”
Growing its business internationally is a strategic priority for Alibaba Group because its mission is "to make it easy to do business anywhere". The increasing number of international agreements and activities over the past several months reflects one element of Alibaba Group's globalization strategy as outlined by Chairman Jack Ma in June 2015 – to help brands and companies of all sizes sell their goods to the growing Chinese consumer class.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group's mission is to make it easy to do business anywhere. The company is the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume. Founded in 1999, the company provides the fundamental technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help businesses leverage the power of the Internet to establish an online presence and conduct commerce with hundreds of millions of consumers and other businesses.
Alibaba Group's major businesses include:
- Taobao Marketplace (www.taobao.com), China's largest online shopping destination
- Tmall.com (www.tmall.com), China's largest third-party platform for brands and retailers
- Juhuasuan (www.juhuasuan.com), China's most popular online group buying marketplace
- Alitrip (www.alitrip.com), a leading online travel booking platform
- AliExpress (www.aliexpress.com), a global online marketplace for consumers to buy directly from China
- Alibaba.com (www.alibaba.com), China's largest global online wholesale platform for small businesses
- 1688.com (www.1688.com), a leading online wholesale marketplace in China
- Aliyun (www.aliyun.com), a provider of cloud computing services to businesses and entrepreneurs
About Robert Mondavi Wines
In 1966, Robert Mondavi established the Robert Mondavi Winery at the age of 53 – the first of its kind in the Napa Valley since the 1933 repeal of Prohibition. Robert Mondavi went on to establish the foundation for the modern-day California wine industry. With the philosophy that great wines reflect their origins, Robert Mondavi Winery continues to pursue the fullest expression of the terroir of Napa Valley.
In addition to Robert Mondavi Winery in the Napa Valley, he also launched Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi and Robert Mondavi Private Selection. In 1979, he founded Woodbridge Winery near his boyhood home in Lodi, California. Having grown up there, Robert Mondavi appreciated that the Lodi region was capable of producing quality wines of exceptional value. In the 1990s, his visionary pursuit of great California wines led him to the Central Coast, when he sourced grapes from the Bianchi Bench Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands region of Monterey County and the Pine Creek Vineyard in Paso Robles. These premier vineyards formed the foundation for Robert Mondavi’s original line of coastal wines and then Robert Mondavi Private Selection in 1994.
For additional information about Robert Mondavi Wines, visit www.robertmondaviwinery.com, www.robertmondaviprivateselection.com and www.woodbridgewines.com.