French Users Seek Help for 618 Shopping Festival, Taobao Releases Multilingual Guides

On May 28, 2024, Taobao partnered with the popular language app Duolingo to release a multilingual “Taobao 618 Shopping Guide for International Friends” in nine different languages. This initiative aims to help users worldwide participate smoothly in the 618 Shopping Festival.

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The launch of this service was triggered by a request from a French user.

On the evening of May 20, when the 618 Shopping Festival officially started, a French user named Vincent sent an urgent message to Taobao’s Weibo account, asking for advice on how to take advantage of the discounts during the 618 event. In his message, Vincent used a translation tool to communicate his need for help in saving money during the sale.

After Taobao’s Weibo account shared Vincent’s request, numerous users flocked to the comment section to provide shopping tips for the international friend. However, the suggestions quickly took a humorous turn:

“Listen carefully, Vincent. If customer service calls you ‘dear,’ you need to kiss your phone screen twice.”

“Mention my name to get 50 yuan off every 300 yuan you spend.”

“The black garlic sold on Taobao is a popular delicacy among Chinese people. Make sure to buy some and try it.”

“Hello, Vincent. Here’s a small tip for the 618 event: if you’re an 88VIP member and you’re not satisfied with something you bought, you can use my address for returns.”

Worried that these seemingly reasonable but absurd suggestions might mislead the foreign user, Taobao promptly released a bilingual “Taobao 618 Shopping Guide for International Friends” in both Chinese and English.

Unexpectedly, this action caused more concern among users: “Vincent is French; why give him an English guide?”

Even more amusingly, the comment section of the bilingual guide attracted increasingly outrageous requests from users: “Is there a Thai version? My Siamese cat is so anxious it’s losing color!”

“Is there a feline version? My child has grown up and wants to buy some cans of food during the 618 sale.”

“Urgently need a Japanese version. My anime wives are clamoring to join the 618 shopping spree.”

“Let’s not forget our international friend Abbas. We need an Urdu version to promote everlasting friendship between China and Pakistan.”

In response to these overwhelming demands, on May 28, Taobao, in collaboration with Duolingo, launched the “Taobao 618 Shopping Guide for International Friends” in nine languages, including English, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Vietnamese. To avoid further criticism, Taobao thoughtfully included versions in Urdu, Georgian, Siamese, and even feline.

Netizens joked: “This version looks good. I’ll have my cat study it after work to see if there are any typos in the feline version.”

While some user demands were clearly made in jest, there are indeed a growing number of international friends in China who are passionate about Taobao. Like Vincent, they hope to participate in the 618 Shopping Festival, and the multilingual shopping guide comes as a timely solution to their needs.

In fact, since December last year, Taobao has been continually addressing consumer pain points by offering services such as a refund-only policy, free shipping to Xinjiang, and a buy-now-pay-later option, consistently enhancing the user shopping experience.

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