Fashion Business Context Fashion Business Context_Claudia Ferraretto | Page 35

E-Commerce: how to? C hinese e-commerce consumers number is increasing year by year, more than the other countries, at the end of 2015 there were 520 million online shoppers (Fig.1). Online sales could be the correct alternative to solve the problems related to open a new physical shop: less paperwork, low costs in order to maintenance, staff and rents, and also, especially in a country big as China is, it allows to achieve a wider audience. High prices are not only exclusivity in the garment, high prices include also the shopping experience and luxury consumer seek for it in order to feel to experience the quality of the product with their fingertips, and try it on to see how it feels. For this reason, luxury fashion brands have to focus on finding tech solutions to guarantee it even online (Bain, 2016). Armani has decided to put forward its website in 2010 by a Mandarin version, providing a size converter, prices in RMB, a geolocation shops and payment methods that Chinese have a habit of using. It could be also useful special discounts and limited clothes editions that can be find only online. Another trend in the Chinese market is Tmall. com, or TaoBao Mall: it is an online retail shop business-to-consumer that attract many luxury buyers, it was created by Alibaba Group and allows local Chinese and international business to sell brand name goods to consumer in China and to develop important sales prospects. Some luxury major brands including Fendi, Dior, and Marc Jacobs, have also launched their platform “Luxury Channel” created in partnership with flash sales site Mei.com (Fashion China Agency, 2016). Fig.1: iResearch, 2015. “Growth of the Chinese e-commerce consumer base” 35