Alibaba selects David Beckham as global brand ambassador for the international e-commerce platform ahead of Euro 2024

Alibaba Group Holding’s global shopping platform AliExpress has appointed English soccer star David Beckham as its global brand ambassador as the Chinese e-commerce giant steps up efforts to grow its international business in the face of intensifying competition from PDD Holdings’ Temu.

As part of the one-year partnership announced by AliExpress on Monday, Beckham will take part in a series of promotional campaigns across television, online, social media and traditional media, starting with TV ads during the European Football Championships or Euro 2024, which begins on June 14.

AliExpress is the sponsor of this year’s event. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

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The move comes after Alibaba rival Temu, a budget shopping platform that is gaining popularity in the international market, spent millions of dollars on ads during the last two games of the Super Bowl, the annual championship of the US National Football League, which is one of the most expensive nights for placement ads.

Alibaba’s AliExpress is a sponsor of Euro 2024. Photo: AP Photo alt=Alibaba’s AliExpress is a sponsor of Euro 2024. Photo: AP Photo>

Ago entered the European market last year, starting in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, touting a wide range of affordable products.

The platform says that AliExpress’s Euro 2024 campaign will include the distribution of vouchers worth millions of euros, as well as free match tickets.

His partnership with Beckham “makes huge sense” because he is a “global sports and lifestyle icon” and “will help AliExpress users get closer to the action throughout the tournament,” said Gary Topp, AliExpress’s European commercial director.

Europe is one of Alibaba’s key targets in the e-commerce segment. The company currently offers five-day delivery for online purchases in Germany, France and Portugal, as well as the US, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, powered by Alibaba’s intelligent Cainiao logistics network.

The European Championship, which takes place every four years, is the most watched football tournament in the world after the World Cup. According to organizer, the Union of European Football Associations, Euro 2020 matches attracted 5.2 billion views worldwide during the matches.

AliExpress has become a key driver of Alibaba’s e-commerce business. The site’s March revenue rose 45 percent to 27.4 billion yuan ($3.81 billion), according to the company’s latest financial report, largely driven by its selection of premium services.

The report shows that total orders across Alibaba’s international marketplaces this quarter increased by 20 percent year-on-year.

As part of its global marketing efforts, AliExpress has also selected Chinese actress Tang Wei as its regional brand endorser in South Korea, which has a rapidly growing e-commerce market.

The platform also recently introduced new subsidies to encourage more Chinese brands and sellers to sell abroad through AliExpress, as well as Alibaba’s other online shopping channels, including Lazada in Southeast Asia, Daraz in South Asia, Miravia in Spain and Trendyol in Turkey.

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