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.
What happened:
The latest data from China’s shopping extravaganza Singles’ Day proves that consumption in China isn’t cooling down despite the current economic slowdown and the U.S. trade war. The inventor of the holiday, Alibaba, maintained its exceptional 10-year-track record by scoring $38.4 billion (268.4 billion yuan) in GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) — a 26-percent jump over the previous year’s sales. While luxury brands have traditionally stayed away from the discount-heavy festival, this year, they leveraged the opportunity to broadcast their latest offerings, according to data released by Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion:
Quick Stats:
- 295 luxury brands attended Singles’ Day 2019
- More than 40 percent of luxury brands dropped new products
- Over 95 percent of brands integrated Huabei (Alipay’s virtual credit card) as a payment solution
- The majority of consumers were from post-90s generations
Top-selling Items:
Within 3 hours, these items sold out:
Breitling watch; Burberry scarf, and MCM bag
Vacheron Constantin watch, Valentino Daydream capsule collection, Maison Margiela Tabi shoe, Moschino x Budweiser T-shirt
Special offline events:
- Valentino 3D virtual shop
Launched in collaboration with the Alibaba AI lab, consumers spend more than 5 minutes on the page.
- Carven new Spring and Winter products
In addition, consumers can enjoy in-store alteration tailor service.
- Burberry scarf embroidery service
Consumers can book appointments online to receive in-store services.
Our take:
Several experts we spoke with criticized the numbers reported by the e-commerce giants, saying they don’t reflect actual revenue, for several reasons: There is no overnight record sale, in fact, it runs over a pretty long promotional period — from October 21 to November 11; the GMV doesn’t take return orders into account, and the companies often include the full price instead of the discounted price for products. Nevertheless, luxury brands actively participated and stepped up their game this year, with over 40 brands celebrating Singles’ Day on Tmall. They dropped new products, released limited-editions, and co-branded goods. It shows just how eager luxury brands are to engage with consumers and stand out among the Singles’ Day noise.
