Arabian Oud
China Market Entry
From zero China presence to a fully operational Tmall Global flagship store, Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) account, influencer program, and logistics infrastructure — built and run as one integrated operation.
The world's largest fragrance retailer needed a complete China operation built from scratch
Arabian Oud operates over 1,200 boutiques across the Middle East, Asia, the United States, and Europe. When they decided to enter China, they had nothing on the ground — no local entity, no trademark, no platform accounts, no distribution, no team.
They hired Shanghai Jungle to build and run the entire operation as a single, integrated service: Tmall Global flagship store, Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) account, influencer campaigns, bonded warehouse logistics, consumer research, and trade show representation. Everything managed by one team in one office in Shanghai.
In most markets, Arabian Oud's retail presence drives brand awareness. In China, they had none. And the fragrance category in China follows a different purchase journey than anywhere else: consumers search for scent reviews, unboxing videos, and comparisons on Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) long before they visit a Tmall store to buy.
The challenge was not just opening a store. It was building an entire brand presence from zero — across platforms, across content formats, across the full consumer journey — while adapting a Middle Eastern luxury fragrance brand to Chinese consumer expectations around packaging, pricing, scent profiles, and discovery.
Arabian Oud needed a single partner who could handle every piece simultaneously, not five vendors across three time zones learning to coordinate with each other.
What we built and manage
Tmall Global Flagship Store
Custom-designed storefront, product pages, banners, and campaign visuals — built around Arabian Oud's brand identity, not from a template. Mobile-first design for the 95%+ of Tmall traffic that comes from phones. Daily operations include product listing updates, pricing adjustments, inventory coordination, and campaign execution during major shopping festivals.
Bonded Warehouse and Logistics
Products stored in a bonded warehouse inside a Chinese free trade zone, enabling cross-border delivery in 1-3 business days through Alibaba's Cainiao logistics network. We coordinate inventory planning ahead of every major shopping festival — Singles' Day, 6.18, Double 12 — because running out of stock during a Tmall campaign doesn't just cost sales, it damages your search ranking for weeks.
Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) Account
Official account setup and ongoing management: content planning, post creation, community management, and performance tracking. Content is designed to drive brand awareness and direct traffic to Tmall Global when consumers are ready to buy. In fragrance, Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) is where the purchase decision is made — the Tmall store is where the transaction happens.
Influencer Campaigns and Livestreaming
End-to-end influencer program: identifying fragrance-focused creators on Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) and Douyin, negotiating directly with no middlemen or MCN agencies adding markup, managing content briefs, coordinating product seeding, and tracking ROI through to actual Tmall conversions. We built a network of fragrance-specific creators — from micro-influencers doing scent reviews to larger accounts doing lifestyle and gifting content.
Consumer Research and Testing
Structured testing sessions in multiple cities with two profiles: fragrance enthusiasts and everyday consumers. Participants evaluated scent profiles, packaging, price sensitivity, and brand perception. Results directly shaped which SKUs launched first, how they were positioned on product pages, and what price points we set against competitors. Research conducted in China, with Chinese consumers — not assumptions from other markets.
Trade Show Representation
Full management of Arabian Oud's presence at Cosmoprof Hong Kong and Notes Shanghai. Our team handled event coordination, product shipping, booth setup, video production, and influencer invitations. Our own staff were in the booth for the full duration of each event — presenting products, engaging visitors, collecting leads, and building distributor relationships.
Customer Service in Mandarin
All customer service for the Tmall store handled in Mandarin by our Shanghai team: pre-sale questions, shipping inquiries, returns, and after-sales support, 7 days a week. Response speed and quality directly affect Tmall search rankings and conversion rates — the platform tracks and penalizes slow or unresponsive stores.
A flagship store designed for how Chinese consumers actually shop
Arabian Oud sells on Tmall Global, Alibaba's cross-border platform. No Chinese company registration required, no local product approvals needed for fragrances sold cross-border.
We designed the flagship store from scratch. The storefront, product pages, banners, and campaign visuals were all built around Arabian Oud's brand identity and positioned against local and international competitors in the fragrance category.
Building brand awareness where fragrance discovery happens
In China, consumers don't discover new fragrances by browsing Tmall. They search for reviews, unboxing videos, and scent comparisons on Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu). If a brand doesn't exist there, it effectively doesn't exist in the minds of Chinese consumers.
Generic beauty influencers don't move the needle in fragrance. We identified and partnered with creators whose audiences specifically trust their scent recommendations — from detailed niche reviewers to larger lifestyle accounts doing gifting content.
Consumer Testing
Multi-city testing sessions with fragrance enthusiasts and everyday consumers. Scent profiles, packaging, pricing, and brand perception all evaluated by the people who would actually buy the product. Results shaped the launch SKU selection and positioning.
Trade Shows
Full booth management at Cosmoprof Hong Kong and Notes Shanghai. From shipping and setup to on-site staffing, video production, and influencer invitations. Our team was on the ground for every minute, collecting contacts and building relationships.
Customer Service
Mandarin-language customer support 7 days a week, 8am to midnight. Pre-sale questions, shipping status, returns, and after-sales support — all handled by our Shanghai team. Tmall penalizes slow response times, so this is operational, not optional.
Produced by our team,
on the ground
Every video here was filmed, directed, and edited by Shanghai Jungle. We don't outsource production — the same team that runs the stores and manages the influencers is the team behind the camera.
Cosmoprof Hong Kong
Full event coverage at Asia's largest beauty trade show. Our team filmed Arabian Oud's booth presence, product demonstrations, and visitor interactions over the entire multi-day event.
Event CoverageNotes Shanghai
Coverage of Arabian Oud's presence at Notes Shanghai, a niche fragrance trade show connecting brands with Chinese distributors, retailers, and fragrance enthusiasts.
Event CoverageInfluencer Content
Content produced by one of the fragrance influencers we partnered with at Notes Shanghai, published across social media channels to drive awareness and engagement.
InfluencerFrom zero to a fully operational China presence
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