OREANDA-NEWS. FC Bayern Munich is collaborating with Tmall Global, an overseas platform and an extension of Alibaba Group's B2C Tmall business in China, and DHL eCommerce to launch an official FC Bayern Munich online flagship store for consumers in China. With the new online store, over 90 million Chinese fans will now be able to purchase official fan merchandise from the world's leading football team and enjoy a premium shopping experience. For the first time, fans can now order a FC Bayern Munich jersey with their favorite player's name and also purchase a variety of fan merchandise ranging from genuine apparel for men, women and children and as well as other unique goods including traditional German and Bavarian products of the football team.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Executive Board Chairman of FC Bayern Munich, said: "We are delighted to be launching our official FC Bayern Munich flagship store on Tmall Global today. I am glad that we will be moving closer to our huge Chinese fan base. Making our fan merchandise accessible is crucial to connect with our fans in China."

Jorg Wacker, Executive Board Member Internationalization and Strategy of FC Bayern Munich, added: "China continues to be our key focus market and plays an important role in our internationalization strategy. For our market entry in China, Tmall Global is the best platform since many of our fans already use the platform today. Together with our strategic partner DHL, we will ensure a fast delivery. This store is a big first step in expanding our touch points with our Chinese fan base and we will interact with our fans even more during our Audi Summer Tour China in July this year."

Jeff Zhang, President of China Retail Marketplaces of Alibaba Group, added: "FC Bayern Munich, as one of the first football clubs launching their exclusive online flagship store on Tmall Global, will greatly reflect the diversity of brands and goods on the platform. This is a very important step to our European strategy and we will continue to bring premium goods and as well as focus on various interactive entertainment and cultural industries to comprehensively globalize the platform. By leveraging Alibaba's 350 million users across our China retail platforms, it will help FC Bayern Munich gain easier access to their 90 million Chinese fans within China."

FC Bayern Munich is the world's biggest football club with over 255,000 members and also one of the most successful having won 5 Champions League Titles, 3 Club World Cup trophies as well as 25 national championships. DHL, as strategic partner of FC Bayern Munich, will leverage its international logistics and e-commerce expertise to help build the club's global merchandise business amongst its over 400 million followers worldwide. The six-year partnership between DHL and FC Bayern Munich sees DHL as its exclusive logistics partner and full service provider for international e-commerce starting in China in 2015 with a planned roll-out across Asia-Pacific. DHL eCommerce will manage many aspects of FC Bayern Munich's merchandising in China working with Tmall Global on product listing, order management, fulfillment of orders, local distribution and returns, local customer service and market entry support.

Thomas Kipp, CEO of DHL eCommerce, said: "There couldn't be a better opportunity to demonstrate our expertise in e-commerce such as fulfillment and end-to-end delivery than launching the online flagship store of the world's biggest football club, FC Bayern Munich, on the world's biggest marketplace in China. We also have the added bonus to work even more closely with Tmall Global, China's leading online retail platform. Just like FC Bayern Munich, DHL is constantly striving to improve on our services and to perfect our game to build even more loyalty with our end consumers."

FC Bayern Munich is also planning to return to China for a summer tour in July 2015. The team will play three games: in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The trip will be the second time that the Bundesliga champions spend part of the summer in China, following a five-day visit in July 2012. Prospective details for 2015, alongside three games in eight days, include a training camp and PR events.