Farfetch steps up its China growth strategy with digital agency acquisition
Online fashion retailer Farfetch has acquired Chinese digital marketing agency CuriosityChina in a bid to boost its presence in the market.
Farfetch has acquired a Chinese agency to step up its presence in the lucrative e-commerce market / Farfetch
The deal will see CuriosityChina work with fashion brands to create WeChat stores in order to market their products directly to Chinese consumers.
Farfetch, which already operates its own WeChat store, has grown its retail brand significantly in the Chinese market following its strategic partnership with e-commerce giant JD.com.
This latest deal aims to bolster its growth by leveraging the immense popularity of WeChat, which has more than 1 billion users globally and is largely viewed as the epicentre of Chinese internet activity.
Giorgio Belloli, chief commercial and sustainability officer at Farfetch told Bloomberg: “We’ve been talking to luxury brands for years and every meeting we have they ask about China. Practically everything in China happens on WeChat.”
CuriosityChina will be integrated into Farfetch’s business and will be run by China managing director Judy Liu.
The move also aims to step up the challenge to China’s dominant e-commerce giant Alibaba, which currently has a 58% share of online retail sales, according to eMarketer.
Alibaba’s closest rival JD.com, which has secured a 16.3% share, is working with WeChat parent company Tencent on a number of e-commerce partnerships and deals.
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Tencent Holdings Limited is a Chinese multinational investment holding conglomerate whose subsidiaries specialize in various Internet-related services and products, entertainment, AI and technology both in China and globally.
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