By HUANG Shan
Tiffany and Co. has opened an online store on JD.com. Prior to this, Tiffany's online retail channels in China were limited to the brand's official Chinese website and a WeChat mini-program.
A Tiffany statement reads: "For a new chapter of digital development, the Tiffany & Co. JD Official Flagship Store will not only help deepen the brand's layout in the Chinese market, but also further enrich the shopping experience for consumers."
The top 2 percent of customers in the world make about 40 percent of global luxury purchases and have a very high frequency of purchases. These Very Important Customers (VICs), are the pillars that have held the brand high during the economic downturn.
For luxury brands that do not have online channels, there is still ample room for growth domestically, especially for jewelry and watches. Both have relatively low online penetration, only around 10 percent to 15 percent.
Tiffany has joined the Italian high-end jewelry brand BVLGARI of the French LVMH Group at JD.com. BVLGARI signed up in August 2021 and opened a second store on Tmall six months later. Choosing between the two e-commerce giants has become a thing of the past.
As luxury brands open stores on JD.com, the attitude of the industry has also changed.
According to JD’s 2022 Q3 report, as of July 2022, there were more than 30 million JD Plus members, the target customers of luxury brands.
JD provides brands with autonomy by providing e-commerce pages similar to mini-programs. And luxury goods are delivered by SF Express instead of JD Logistics.
JD's marketing resources help brands reach users beyond other platforms’ reach, the fundamental motivation for luxury brands to sign up.
The Tiffany release continued: "Tiffany will also use JD's unique marketing resources to build a richer communication scene for consumers with novel interaction at important promotional nodes and new product launch opportunities, and to meet diversified consumer needs in a unique shopping experience."
