Taobao Malaysia to launch Malay-language interface

Taobao Malaysia is launching a Malay-language interface for the Taobao app tentatively in June, to further enhance the local shopping experience for Malaysians.  The eCommerce platform said in a release sighted by A+M that the upgrade is designed to better reflect local language preferences and meet the growing cross-border shopping needs of Malaysian users.

According to Taobao, the introduction of the new language interface takes place amid a surge in global popularity of its app, which has recently become the second-most downloaded app in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and claims the top spot in France. In Malaysia, Taobao has recently become the second-most downloaded app on the iOS shopping app chart, the Chinese eCommerce platform said in the release. 

Based on checks by A+M, the Taobao app is indeed number two on the Apple app store's top charts for free apps, coming after ChatGPT. 

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In September last year, Taobao launched its English interface in Malaysia, powered by advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology that automatically translates platform content. The app currently provides bilingual customer service in English and Chinese, helping users overcome language barriers and explore a wide selection of high-quality products with ease.

Taobao shoppers in Malaysia have also been able to shop with more ease with the introduction of English product descriptions and prices displayed in Malaysian Ringgit (MYR). Supported by payment solutions provider Antom and Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao, Taobao also said that it offers a robust payment and logistics infrastructure to ensure seamless and reliable transactions and deliveries.

The Chinese firm also added that Malaysian users can choose from various payment options, including debit cards, credit cards, online banking, e-wallets and instalment plans. Order tracking is available directly within the app to ensure transparency. 

“Our planned introduction of a Malay-language interface will mark another significant milestone in Taobao’s localisation journey and reinforce our platform’s commitment to providing every Malaysian user with a more accessible, seamless and worry-free shopping experience,” said Jess Lew, country head of Taobao Malaysia.

Last October, Lazada partnered up with the eCommerce firm to launch a new Taobao fashion channel on Lazada's platform in Singapore and Malaysia. The channel offered over 6 million products from top Taobao merchants. 

Meanwhile, Taobao Malaysia kicked off its 11.11 sale last year in both Chinese and English, for the first time last year. It said at the time, that this was to make it more inclusive for Malaysian consumers with the festival theme of "Shop as far as you can think".

Five years ago in 2019, Alibaba Group, the parent company of Taobao, opened a physical Taobao store in MyTOWN Shopping Centre, Cheras, in partnership with Lumahgo New Retail. The Taobao Store by Lumahgo spanned 5,000 square feet, offering a mix of offline and online shopping experiences. It came shortly after Taobao launched its first concept store in Southeast Asia at Singapore's Funan mall.

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