5 Reasons Your Luxury Brand Must Be on Tmall Luxury Pavilion

Last years were challenging for luxury. Luxury brands had to go through digital transformation to embrace technology and reinvent themselves. For instance, the luxury sector embraced creativity on WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Douyin, and Tmall.

Today, more than 200 luxury brands are available on Tmall Luxury Pavilion. Many of them joined in recent years because of the Covid-19 crisis to maximize their sales and visibility among other brands. Discover why your luxury goods must be on this Tmall marketplace too!

#1 Engage with Chinese Consumers with a Qualitative Experience

In China, Tmall is one of the most visited e-commerce platforms. On average, users spend 27 minutes per day on Tmall service, compared to 10 minutes on Google. And what is their main intention there? Buying. Savvy luxury shoppers in China search for clothes, accessories, health and beauty products, and many more!

The Alibaba group platform decided to offer a more premium experience for luxury lovers. The Tmall Luxury Pavilion is “an app within an app”, which means you can have direct access to the Luxury Pavilion. You? Well, not exactly. Only a happy few customers can search the pavilion thanks to the invitation system.

Tmall targets only Chinese shoppers who share an interest in luxury brands combined with a high income. Tmall Luxury Pavilion is the best opportunity for luxury brands because e-commerce and digital space are always combined in China. In 2020, Cartier decided to stay on track with the launch of an online flagship store on Tmall Luxury Pavilion.

Thanks to this inclusive system, you can offer your clients a unique experience within your flagship store, contrary to brick and mortar stores. As Valentino mentioned, it is the best way to engage with Chinese consumers by bringing heritage, experience, products, and values to them. They will understand better your brand and deep dive into your universe.

Another feature launched is a Tmall “Hey Box” — the e-commerce platform’s gateway for consumers to find new products. Tmall’s “Hey Box” feature uses AI and big data to select brands to present to consumers.

#2 Luxury Brands in China should Combine Online and Offline

In China, consumers expect a personalized and digital-driven service from brands. Their purchasing path must be both composed of online and offline elements. This explains the recent development and success of physical stores in China.

Market analysis shows that the Chinese spend 6 hours daily on their phone. Social media and e-commerce platforms have a huge impact on consumer purchases. Today, 50% of consumers are discovering new products through social media.

They have no problem being guided through purchase and they show more flexibility in digital transformation. For 55% of customers, they would be ok to buy something if recommended by an AI service or tags regarding their previous purchase or recommended if it goes well with something they already wear or are keen to have.

The Luxury Pavilion is going further with the recent collaboration TMALL x K11 SHANGHAI. K11 is a popular luxury mall located in the center of Shanghai. Many brands have flagship stores there like Cartier or Chloé, displaying a curated collection of top-quality products.

Tmall Luxury Pavilion worked on the combination of offline and online experience by offering a Brand Experience Center on the luxury platform. Popup activations are exclusive to the venue of luxury brands. Until now, this popup hosted a street culture exhibition, live band performances, and immersive digital experiences to deliver offline visits to the live slot.

#3 Keep the Control over Your Brand

As we mentioned previously, Luxury Pavilion is an “app within an app”. Alibaba Group wanted to provide brands with the same high-end experience offered in physical stores. This is why you will have 100% control over your brand on the Tmall Luxury Pavilion.

The main advantage of the online shop is the customers’ experience. You will have the freedom to pick the price, the merchandising strategy, and the communication strategy. This feature gives you an opportunity not to be dependent on the retailer… you ARE the retailer!

In this case, you should be accompanied by a local agency. For branding and e-reputation of your company, you need a team that speaks Chinese and understand the main codes and consumer behaviors. You can promote your existing content and campaigns ahead but you need to know how to talk to Chinese consumers.

The most important strategy for Luxury Pavilion is to give users the feeling they have a personalized experience that nobody else in the world has. If they log on to your brand’s official website? Not the same experience. If they follow your social media accounts? Not the same experience. Luxury Pavilion should be a unique place for the best customer experience!

#4 Boost your Exclusive Products Sales in Luxury Sector

Limited editions and exclusive products are always a success in China. You have certainly already experienced how fast your limited editions can be sold in China, especially with KOLs. In 2017, a Burberry limited edition bag was sold out in less than 10 minutes thanks to Mr. Bag’s promotion on its social media.

If you’re a general manager wondering how to conquer the Chinese market, you need to know that you can have the same brand impact with Tmall Luxury Pavilion. The site provides several services from virtual flagships to live streams. Are you looking for a best practice? Take a look at Piaget!

Piaget used the Tmall Flagship 2.0 experience to launch its Valentine’s Day (Qixi) limited edition. The Possession necklace was promoted through a digital popup. The shoppers entered the digital flagship to discover an interactive version of the necklace.

He rotated the necklace on the screen to unlock a short video featuring Chinese actor Liu Haoran promoting this new limited edition and the new feature. At the end of the campaign, Piaget’s community growth was multiplied by 9 in China.

The Return on Investment (ROI) is tremendous in China, especially with Tmall Luxury Pavilion. You need to build a proper digital experience for your company with a digital agency in all the markets.

Thanks to this tactic, you can stay up to date with the current Chinese consumer trends: gaming, phygital, unisex collections, etc. Trends are evolving fast in China.

#5 Benefit from the Integrated Livestreaming Experience in the Luxury Industry

You already know the impact of live streaming, right? In China, 613 million people watched at least one live streaming session in 2020. The audience is huge and the sales impacts are crazy. Last year, the live streaming market increased by 28%.

The New York Fashion Week understood the impact of such a new feature and decided to live-stream its shows in September 2020 to target Chinese consumers. The fashion shows were launched across Youku, Taobao, and Tmall, reaching 900 million people audience around the world.

Tmall Luxury Pavilion is a key service to combine live streaming trends and user engagement. If Chinese consumers enjoy the live stream service they can directly purchase your product on the e-commerce platform. The purchasing path is simplified and more convenient. Which means? You will perform better and obtain a higher ROI.

This digital opportunity even reshaped the watches industry. In September 2020, the annual event Watches & Wonders took place in Shanghai through Tmall. For the event, Tmall selected 30 VIP clients to join the virtual trade show to discover watchmaking. It was a unique opportunity to connect with Chinese high-end consumers. The watch luxury brands gained visibility, attachment, and engagement.

How to join Tmall Luxury Pavilion?

The process is quite long and complex. First, your business must already have a certain echo in the Chinese market. If your brand awareness is high enough and ranks in Baidu search engine, you can enter into contact with Tmall Luxury division. Then, you will have to present a business project to the brand and to Tmall with a strategic launch plan. How to do so? Ask us!

Founded by Olivier Vérot and Philip Qian, GMA helps foreign brands perform in China. Until now, we have already worked with Yves Saint Laurent, Les Georgettes, and Vogue. So, we can help you build your launch plan and your project to enter Tmall Luxury Pavilion. We can talk about your business and services!