Asia’s largest online luxury retailer, SECOO, released its 2020 first quarter earnings report. The company’s revenue ending March 31 was $141.96 million versus $168.17 in the same period a year ago. Net loss was $6 million, in contrast to a net income of $2.26 million the previous year. Operation income dropped 14.5 percent due to the delay in delivery, while Gross Merchandise Volume surged 12 percent to $34 million during the first quarter. Moreover, the e-commerce platform was recently accused of selling a fake Burberry handbag by a Douyin Influencer “阿酱星.” The influencer sent the handbag to a professional appraisal agency to test its authenticity and the result shows the bag was counterfeit. SECOO has already reached out to the Influencer and will update its investigation on its official Douyin account.
Jing Take:#
Launched in 2009, SECOO was listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in 2017 and now has an aggregate market value of over US $200 million. It has rapidly surpassed the competition because its values have not changed since it was established. The company’s priority has always been to provide genuine branded goods — no fakes. SECOO has its own appraisal center and has cooperated with the National Leather Products Quality Supervision and Inspection Center. Competitors such as Tmall and Taobao have recently attempted to reduce their sales of fake goods but have been unable to eliminate them completely. For SECOO, the recent incident has enraged Chinese netizens since it has earned its reputation by being rigorous in its authentication of designer goods. Now, it’s going to have to get better.
The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.