Luxury Fashion Brands Start to Sell on China’s WeChat Messaging App
Courtesy L2
HONG KONG ? Â China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. is using its vast social-media network to attract luxury-fashion brands to its WeChat app, potentially opening a new frontier in online retail.
France’s Longchamp and the U.K.’s Burberry Group PLC have begun selling handbags and clothes on WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE’s Givenchy and Dior brands are testing demand for their goods through flash sales on the platform.
The move signals a challenge to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the dominant player in e-commerce in China, where online transactions are expected to reach 6 trillion yuan ($870 billion) this year, according to consulting firm Bain & Co. Alibaba’s sites processed more than $547 billion in transactions in fiscal 2017, which analysts say is more than eBay Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. combined. While luxury sales on WeChat are in their infancy, Tencent’s courting of high-end fashion brands is part of a widening battle between China’s internet companies. Alibaba, Tencent and search engine Baidu Inc. are venturing beyond their traditional business lines into payments, social media and e-commerce.
“Customers have responded very well” to Longchamp’s limited handbag sales on WeChat, said Jean Cassegrain, chief executive of the luxury brand, which is considering expanding its product lineup on the app. “One way or the other, [WeChat] will significa...
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