Alibaba Group President Michael Evans joined business leaders including Todd Kahn, CEO and Brand President of Coach; Amanda Baldwin, CEO of Supergoop!; and Danielle Bailey, Managing Vice President, APAC, at Gartner L2, for a virtual discussion on developments in the digitization of the retail industry in China.

Evans noted how businesses have thrived by digitizing every aspect of their operation, including sales, marketing, logistics, and sourcing. Amanda Baldwin, CEO of Supergoop!, a Texas-based skincare company, explained how the brand leveraged Alibaba’s consumer insights and marketing tools, including livestreaming, to effectively engage with Chinese consumers who have been increasingly looking for beauty products online during the last year.

The panelists also discussed the importance of understanding the Chinese consumer. These consumers tend to be younger, willing to explore new products, and less likely to distinguish between e-commerce and traditional retail. Alibaba’s Tmall Innovation Center provides businesses real-time insights by analyzing consumer sales data to adjust their marketing strategy and meet new customers' demands.

U.S. retailers are increasingly finding success with innovative tools like livestreaming on Alibaba platforms, which had already been a fixture of Chinese retail. With the help of Alibaba, Coach’s new 3D-shopping feature enables Chinese customers to browse and purchase Coach products at their Fifth Avenue store in New York.

Read more about the Wharton forum here.