What: Real estate operator Simon Property Group is teaming up with Alibaba for a livestream 11/11 holiday shopping event.

Why it is important: Simon Property Group is expanding from a strict mall operator role into various directions, including the opening of pop-ups during the popular 11/11 Chinese livestreaming event by teaming up with Alibaba.

As part of 11/11, Simon will set up a pop-up studio at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets to livestream the events.

Simon and Shop Premium Outlets (SPO) have partnered with Tmall Global, opening the door for consumers in China to virtually shop SPO’s online inventory as well as buy direct from participating retailers.

The partnership involves SPO providing the back-end technology for Tmall Global to access inventory in real-time.

Simon Property teams up with Alibaba on liveshopping event