Italian fashion label Salvatore Ferragamo to launch online store in China
Italian fashion label Salvatore Ferragamo will launch a new online store in China, partenering with domestic online luxury retailer Xiu.com. — Reuters picBEIJING, Sept 23 — Italian fashion label Salvatore Ferragamo will launch an online store on October 11 in China, partnering with domestic online luxury retailer Xiu.com, reported Chinese-language DoNews website Wednesday. This announcement will mark the first time the brand is collaborating with a Chinese online retailer. Xiu.com is a Shenzhen-based fashion e-tailer, which sells international luxury brands ranging from Gucci to Chanel.
The deal means Xiu.com will first retail Ferragamo’s latest collections of footwear, bags, accessories, scarves and neck ties, before extending to the full collections later, Xiu.com’s chief executive officer George Ji Wenhong told Jing Daily Wednesday. Ferragamo currently has a retail network in China of 60 stores across 34 cities.
In May this year, US department store Macy’s also announced a partnership with Chinese e-commerce website Omei.com to retail its store brands merchandise in a bid to crack the China market. While Macy’s is a recognizable brand name in China, the store still had a great deal to learn about the shopping patterns and merchandise preferences of consumers in China, said Macy’s chief executive Terry J. Lundgren in a press statement.
Another Western store that is collaborating with Chinese luxury online retailers is Dallas-based Neiman Marcus, which purchased a stake in flash sales start-up Glamour Sales earlier this year.
China’s vast e-commerce market looks set to be irresistible to Western luxury retailers. According to a recent report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), China is set to become the world’s next e-commerce superpower, surpassing the US to become the largest online commerce market in the world by 2015, with an estimated market size of RM2 trillion. — AFP/Relaxnews
