In case you missed them the first time around, here are some of Jing Daily’s top posts for the week of November 11-15.
China’s Luxury Market: Evolving, Not Declining#
With an estimated 2.5 percent growth rate for 2013, the Chinese luxury market is slowing down. However, the perception should be nuanced: a deceleration is not a crash. Although the Americas are predicted to see a higher growth rate than China this year, Chinese travelers are spending more abroad.
That luxury demand is not decreasing, but evolving was a conviction shared by the 80 Chinese luxury experts, brand professionals and designers participating in the sixth edition of Insight Shanghai on October 24th and 25th. The two-day conference and workshop provided firsthand insights on the evolving sense of luxury with Chinese characteristics. Here are some key findings.
Rewards Outweigh Risks In China’s Luxury Market: An Interview With Ruder Finn CEO Kathy Bloomgarden#
The Chinese media has been making foreign companies increasingly nervous over the past year with a string of bad PR campaigns leveled at foreign brands such as Apple and Starbucks. Last Wednesday,Ruder Finn CEO Kathy Bloomgarden addressed this issue at a talk at the Confucius Institute for Business at the SUNY Levin Institute, where she candidly advised businesses to expect great challenges in the China market in the future, but great rewards if they succeed in navigating it. Bloomgarden likened the current environment for foreign businesses in China to the term weiji (危机), which translates roughly into “crisis”, but, when broken down, means the situation has not only danger wei (危), but also opportunity ji (机).
Singles’ Day Sales Figures Shatter Records
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Initial e-tail sales numbers are already being reported for China’s just-ended online shopping extravaganza Singles’ Day, showing yet another record-breaking year. Even though these sky-high results were completely expected, it doesn’t make them any less impressive when you look at the numbers on a global scale.
E-commerce giant Alibaba smashed last year’s records for the holiday, which we already know thanks to the company’s “big data” situation room that it set up for reporters to watch the real-time sales take place in all their glory.
5 Tips For Luxury E-Commerce Success#
A Singles' Day promotion for online luxury retailer 5Lux. (5Lux)
China’s e-tail bonanza Singles’ Day, or “11/11″, demonstrated the stunning growth of China’s e-commerce market with its enormous $5.7 billion in sales on Tmall alone this year. With total online sales for the country set to rise to about $296 billion by the end of this year, learning the keys to success in China’s online marketplace is vitally important for brand success.
Luxury is set to take up a significant part of the online retail pie, with an estimation to be worth $27 billion by the end of this year. However, China’s e-tail landscape has proven especially tricky for luxury brands. Despite the significant profits to be made, Macy’s put its China e-commerce plans on hold in October of this year, which followed a decision by Neiman Marcus to downscale its China e-commerce operations several months ago.
Interview With Fashion Blogger Laurence Li: Street Style Is 'As Important' As Haute Couture#
Fashion blogger Laurence Li’s style has been recognized by the critical eyes of Vogue and American Apparel alike. A graduate from Emily Carr University of Art and Design majoring in animation, Laurence manages his blog, atomshell, while working to pursue his passion for art and fashion by exploring visual merchandising, mixed-media illustrations, digital art, and animation. Jing Daily recently interviewed Li about how he started blogging and his opinions on Chinese bloggers’ role in the fashion industry. Look below to read his insights.
