Events

Learnings from China's Biggest E-Commerce Day

by

Iris Chan | November 11, 2016

Bigger than Black Friday, Single's Day in China is an online shopping event so massive that brands can't ignore its sales impact. Wrestling with brand control, high-end and luxury brands find the way to take part in the fastest growing e-commerce nation.

One of the most exciting days of shopping is coming up, and we’re not talking about Black Friday. Forbes reported it ‘bigger than Black Friday’ last year, and we can only imagine how much bigger it will get this year. This Friday November 11th is Single’s Day (11.11), a day that celebrates proud to be young and single Chinese people. In addition to being the fastest growing e-commerce nation, Single’s Day has become an annual explosion of online sales.

All kinds of brands leverage this unique occasion in the Chinese market each year, however for luxury brands the day is met with mixed feelings. The association with discounts and widespread availability is understandably called into question on the impact to a luxury brand’s image and perception. Yet, some high-end and luxury brands have made the move into e-commerce in China, at first to have better control over gray-market products, and now also to take their piece of the growing pie of online shoppers and sales.

Following Alibaba’s IPO in 2014, luxury brands looked on as Coach, Burberry, and others opened official Tmall stores to see what would happen to them. Since then, some have remain and others have closed. Other brands have taken a different approach and have been working with third party e-commerce platforms. Among them, most notably, is MEI.com (formerly Glamour Sales). MEI.com is a leader in the China e-commerce landscape since 2009, the first online flash sales retailer in China that focuses on luxury, fashion and lifestyle brands, and has significant investors like Alibaba and Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook. Co-founded and led by CEO, Thibault Villet, he joins this year’s Luxury Society Keynote in Shanghai to delve into the details on luxury brands and third party platforms participating in the current growing landscape of e-commerce in China.

Find out more on November 25, 2016 by joining industry leaders and professionals at the 2nd Annual Luxury Society Keynote in Shanghai at Four Seasons Hotel Pudong.

China | Keynote