Focus On Booming But Young High-End E-Commerce Market#
One of China's many new luxury e-commerce sites, Ju Fengshang
Taking place this year with the theme of "Practice/Fashion," the sixth annual China Online Retail Conference will run from November 8-9 at Chengdu's Century City New International Convention & Exposition Center (成都世纪城新国际会展中心). The two-day event is organized this year by eBrun (亿邦动力), a Beijing-based e-commerce news portal.
With a broader aim at promoting the increasing presence of luxury and fashion brands on the China e-commerce scene, this year's event will kick off with the Night of Chengdu, an opening ceremony combining a dinner party with a high-end runway show. The Night of Chengdu will bring together China's top five fashion e-commerce giants: Vancl, Mai Baobao, Joy Xanadu, Ju Fengshang, and Ami's, showing off their latest popular designs.
In addition to the fashion show, over the course of this year's conference CEOs from the five e-commerce companies will interact with 300 invited social elites, including governors, retailers, fashion media, and representatives from traditional as well as mobile e-commerce merchants, sharing their insights on successful online retail strategies and future trends.
So why Chengdu? Part of it could have to do with the city's status as an up-and-coming luxury powerhouse. Last year, Louis Vuitton registered record sales of 877 million yuan (US$138 million) in the city, while Cartier generated more revenue in Chengdu than in any other city in China. This August, at a fashion event in Chengdu, Liu Ruiming, editor-in-chief of Forbes China, projected that luxury sales in Chengdu will soon reach 10 billion yuan (US$1.57 billion), making it one of China’s largest single high-end markets.