Richemont and Alibaba Bring Luxury to China

RAPAPORT… Richemont has partnered with Alibaba Group to improve Chinese
consumers’ access to the Swiss retailer’s luxury platforms.



Alibaba will provide the technology and infrastructure to help
Richemont sell to the Chinese market through its e-commerce sites, Net-a-Porter
and Mr Porter, the companies said Friday. Richemont will launch two mobile apps
for those platforms, as well as making the online stores available on Alibaba’s
Tmall Luxury Pavilion, a platform for high-end brands.


“Chinese customers at home and abroad are an increasingly
important customer base for Richemont and for the broader luxury industry,”
said Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont, which owns Cartier and Van Cleef
& Arpels. “Our digital offering in China is in its infancy, and we believe
that partnering with Alibaba will enable us to become a significant and
sustainable online player in this market.”


Richemont-owned Yoox Net-à-Porter (YNAP) — which
incorporates both Net-à-Porter and Mr Porter — already sells products from about
950 luxury brands to the Chinese market, the groups explained.



“As Chinese consumers continue to upgrade their lifestyles,
we want to meet the desires of Alibaba’s more than 600 million users,” said
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang. “We believe this…is just the beginning of a long-term
partnership, and together we are committed to exploring many more opportunities
to collaborate in the future.”

Image: Alibaba Group headquarters, Hangzhou, China. (The Craft)