China Daily Interview with Daniel Langer: Luxury brands look to online sales in China in aftermath of pandemic

The logos of French luxury group Kering and fashion house Balenciaga are pictured on Kering headquarters in Paris, April 20, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

By LIA ZHU in San Francisco | Originally published in China Daily Global

Luxury brands are looking to Chinese e-commerce sites to boost sales as their businesses struggle in the rest of the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But experts say Western brands aren't yet prepared to be successful in China, the world's most important luxury market, because of their reliance on brick-and-mortar stores and lack of savvy when it comes to digital retailing.

Fashion house Balenciaga is among the latest brands to join Alibaba Group's e-commerce site Tmall. Balenciaga's Tmall store opened last month and is the Paris-based brand's only online official flagship store on a third-party platform.

Affected by the coronavirus pandemic, American fashion brand Michael Kors also turned to Tmall to launch a new customization service ahead of a global rollout later this year. The brand recently initiated its first Super Brand Day, a Tmall program allowing participating brands to offer flash sales and special offers on their Tmall storefront.

Bulgarian shoe brand By Far recently opened a flagship store on Tmall's rival, JD. The coveted brand has seen 65 percent of its products sell out after just four days, and about 90 percent of its products sold out after a month, according to a JD news release.

Apple, in partnership with Tmall and JD, has cut prices of its latest iPhones in China ahead of a major annual online shopping festival called 6.18.

Many global brands are focusing their post-outbreak e-commerce retail strategies on Chinese consumers as they emerge from lockdown and get ready for online shopping events.

"We expect China's luxury segment to come back fastest, hence it is critical for brands to be well-positioned with Chinese luxury consumers," Daniel Langer, CEO of management consulting firm Équité and a professor of luxury strategy at California's Pepperdine University, told China Daily.

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