The luxury e-commerce platform Secoo Holding Limited has had a challenging start to the year, as major rivals Alibaba and JD.com have increased their share of the Chinese luxury online shopping market. In hopes to improve its fortunes in China, Secoo has launched WOW Brand Week from April 22 to 28, with a slew of brand partnerships.
Most prominent among the partnerships is the recently announced agreement with the French footwear brand Roger Vivier (Vivier is credited with designing the first stiletto heel in 1954). The agreement comes on the heels of Roger Vivier’s aggressive expansion into China, during which time the brand has opened retail outlets at Plaza 66 in Shanghai and IFS in Chengdu.
Secoo’s WOW Brand Week is the company’s attempt to engage users with a more immersive shopping experience for high-end international products. For the shopping event, Roger Vivier, which is owned by Italian luxury company Tod’s S.p.A., introduced an exclusive product to attract more Chinese consumers — the gray and white Viv' Run sneaker. Exclusive, limited-edition products have proven to be an effective marketing tool in the crowded Chinese market, with many such products selling out quickly. The British brand Burberry has found success with its limited-edition monthly product drops on WeChat.
Secoo CEO Li Rixue said in a press release, “We are committed to building the WOW Brand Week into an important field for brand upgrade and marketing.” Li added that the company would host more than 20 marketing events during the week.
Prior to the online shopping event, Secoo partnered with fashion blogger Becky Li on April 20 for the lifestyle exhibition themed "Becky's Choice: Mobile Walk-in Closet" at the Secoo offline experience center in Beijing. The exhibition will run through May 4, and the company plans to follow it up with further partnerships with other popular social media influencers. The company sees the offline events as a way to offer luxury consumers a shopping experience that is lacking with online-only platforms.
In Secoo’s most recent earnings release, the company showed slowing revenue growth, though it has increased its number of users. As the company seeks to diversify its offerings, including travel products through Chinese online travel agency Caissa Travel, it is also ramping up marketing campaigns for its main e-commerce business. Since the start of the fourth quarter, the company has added 100 brands to its e-tail portfolio, including Michael Kors, Marni, Trussardi, René Caovilla, Jason Wu, and MSGM.