The luxury brands have been focusing on the Chinese market for some time now. They have not only created specific collections for the Chinese consumers but rolled out a series of stores in the country. But as the law of diminishing return kicks in each new store brings in progressively lesser amount of business. And with the cost of real estate is going up it requires more investment to open a new store. The brands are now looking at the country’s ecommerce market more seriously. Initially they had kept themselves away as the web stores in China were believed to be full of fakes and knockoffs.
Things have changed for the better and there are several examples now of ecommerce sites that have created a reputation for themselves for being a reliable supplier of international brands at a reasonable price. Tong Keyi is a 22 year old student who sells second hand high end bags from brands like Hermes and Chanel through her micro blog and manages to generate a turnover of over $30,000 a day. According to a study conducted by iResearch the luxury online sale in China grew by 68.8% in 2011 to reach a level of 10.73 billion Yuan.
Meici.com, a three year old luxury e-retailer founded by Wang Hao has reached a turnover of 100 million Yuan which is five times higher than their 2010 turnover. More than the brand and the service it is the reputation of the site that counts in the Chinese ecommerce market. Glamour Sales is another popular website that stocks a wider range of brands including Diesel and Prada. More brands are putting China on their online map. Some of them are collaborating with Yoox.com which is a global e-retailing partner for fashion and designer brands. Luxury ecommerce in China is on the fast track now but it has a long way to go.
