HelloITA launched as the virtual hub for Italian products in China

The Italian Trade Agency ITA has signed a partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group for the launch of the HelloITA virtual hub on the Tmall marketplace.

It is the first country project ever launched on Alibaba and currently brings together more than 80 companies, more than half of which are SMEs, which will offer Italian excellence and culture to Chinese consumers in sectors ranging from wine to cosmetics, home&design and fashion.

HelloITA, online since 5 September with a graphic design that references Italian tradition and lifestyle, is accessible to the more than 570 million consumers registered with Alibaba’s Tmall and Tmall Global B2C platforms.

ITA is planning to invest a total of €2.5 million in communication over the next 16 months as part of the government’s “Special plan for promotion of Made in Italy abroad”.

China is one of the world’s most promising e-commerce markets with online retail sales set to see exponential growth to more than €1.72 trillion by the end of 2019, ITA explains.

This growth is driven by the diffusion of smartphones, mobile purchases and the generation of Millennials which account for more than 72% of high-end product purchasers.