Alibaba-owned Tmall debuts luxury channel via shoppable live-streamed catwalk show
Alibaba’s Tmall has partnered with Chinese flash sale brand Mei.com to create a new channel, the Tmall Luxury Flash Sales Channel.
The launch was promoted via a celebrity-heavy catwalk event that was livestreamed on the Tmall app, with all items directly shoppable from the new channel on the app. Celebrities included Olivia Palermo, who acted as a stylist for the show. Singer Chris Lee and Peter Sheng, an actor from the online TV series ‘Go Princess Go’ also featured.
Tmall used a ‘scan and buy’ functionality to allow people to buy from over 42 looks (30 womenswear, 10 menswear and 2 children’s looks). The brands available during the livestream included Sergio Rossi, Proenza Schouler, Stuart Weitzman, Carven, Zegna Sport, and Galeries Lafayette.
The show included a total of 300 luxury brands, selected from the 3,000 global brands that have partnered with Mei.com to sell to Chinese people.
China is the biggest ecommerce market in the world and gaining market leadership is much coveted by Chinese retail giants like Alibaba, as well as the likes of Walmart. A key selling point can be the selection of global brands on offer particularly within the luxury sector.
Walmart announced this week that it was launching a new shopping service dedicated to selling global brands, housed within its mobile app. Similarly, Alibaba has spent the past few years wooing western brands to come on board its platform as a means of reaching Chinese consumers.