Antipodes and Alibaba form strategic partnership

New Zealand skincare brand Antipodes has announced a strategic partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Announced at the Alibaba E-commerce Expo in Auckland last week, the partnership will see the two companies work together to bring a targeted range of skincare products to Chinese consumers via Alibaba’s Tmall Global e-commerce platform.

Antipodes has been working with Alibaba to access the China market for the past five years, and it recently co-developed a product with the company, which has debuted exclusively on Tmall.

“This is such a special product,” Elizabeth Barbalich, the founder and CEO of Antipodes, said about the Kiwi Seed Gold Luminous Eye Cream.

“[I]t is made using 23K gold, a formulation that is soft and dissolvable. This means it is absorbed straight into the skin to calm, soothe and illuminate, instead of sitting on the skin’s surface as a 24K gold product would.”

Antipodes has developed a devoted following both at home and abroad for its high-performance, organic skincare products. And Chinese consumers have responded well to its “green” reputation.

“We have worked with Antipodes for more than five years and over this time the brand has developed a number of ‘hero products’ popular with Chinese consumers,” Maggie Zhou, Alibaba Group’s managing director of Australia and New Zealand, said.

“With New Zealand’s pure and green image, Kiwi products continue to grow in popularity with Chinese consumers and on Alibaba’s marketplaces.”

Tmall is a premium online retailer for the China market. The company has been seeking the best local brands to partner with via its Australia and New Zealand operations recently.