[March 18, 2013]

Microsoft Launches Flagship Online Store on Tmall.com in China

Following the successful debut of the Microsoft (News - Alert) Online Store (MicrosoftStore.com.cn) in China, which opened its doors in October 2012, Microsoft officially launched its flagship online store on Tmall.com in China today, extending its product and service offering availability on China's largest consumer e-commerce platform. Chinese consumers can now discover, learn, and buy a wider range of products from Microsoft and its key OEM partners via the new flagship store on Tmall.com (MicrosoftStore.Tmall.com). Microsoft will also continue to operate Microsoft.Tmall.com, an e-store dedicated to offering consumers with computer accessories such as keyboards and mice through Microsoft resellers.

"We are excited to be working with Tmall.com for the official launch of Microsoft's Flagship Store," said Kevin Eagan, VP, E-commerce of Microsoft Retail Stores. "Microsoft sees great potential in China's e-commerce market, to offer customers across the country choice, value and service through our online store. Through our joint efforts with Tmall.com, customers have a trusted and secured shopping experience of Microsoft and other complementary products such as Surface, Office, Windows PCs, Windows Phones, and accessories."

"Chinese consumers' appetite for brand-name, quality products is surging and they are increasingly making purchase decisions based on experience, value, and service quality; as such, we firmly believe that this collaboration between Microsoft and Tmall.com can serve to offer brand partners such as Microsoft the ability to fully integrate marketing and sales strategies and connect even more directly and effectively with consumers," said Daniel Zhang, president of Tmall.com. "Microsoft and Tmall.com share a closely aligned vision to provide users with the best possible selection of products and services and believe that there is room to further streamline the divide between offline and online retail offering; in the future, we look forward to engaging in an even deeper strategic cooperation model with Microsoft."

The Microsoft Online Store is designed for easy discovery and purchase, providing a great and convenient shopping experience with support of all local major payment types in China. As a complementary extension to the Microsoft Online Store, the Tmall.com flagship store will also offer pre-sales and post-sales services using online chat, a Microsoft Store exclusive complimentary Up & Running Service customized for Surface customers in China to assist with their initial set up and use, and most importantly, a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee backed by one of the best support and return policies in China today.

Additionally, in order to better meet the needs of customers in China, the new Microsoft flagship store on Tmall.com is directly operated by a dedicated team in China which will oversee assortment, offers, and promotions based on local consumer needs and preferences. Over 50 products are available in the Microsoft flagship store on Tmall.com, including the following products and services:

• Microsoft Surface and accessories
• Microsoft Online Store's unique Up & Running Service for Surface
• Microsoft Office
• Windows Phone (News - Alert) devices from key OEM partners
• Microsoft hardware and accessories
• Microsoft Online Store's unique Signature PCs (coming soon)

A promotional campaign will be launched in the coming weeks that will feature news on product launches and enable consumers to pre-order and place deposits on products new to the market.

About Tmall.com

Tmall.com (www.tmall.com) is an online shopping landmark in China with more than 70,000 major multinational and Chinese brands offered by more than 50,000 merchants. An open business-to-consumer (B2C) platform, Tmall.com has established itself as the leading shopping destination for quality, brand-name goods. It was launched by Taobao in April 2008 and became an independent platform in June 2011. According to Alexa, it is the most visited B2C online retail website in China. Tmall.com is a business within Alibaba Group.

About the Microsoft Online Store

Microsoft Online Store offers the all new Microsoft Surface and more. The Microsoft Online Store is now available in many countries across the globe making it easy for customers everywhere to purchase Microsoft products online. For more information, visit www.MicrosoftStore.com.cn.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft's Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

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