Liu Wen for Estée Lauder | Source: Estée Lauder

BEIJING, China — For the past few years, all eyes have been on China. Captivated by the country’s rapidly expanding economy, large population and seemingly insatiable appetite for luxury goods, global fashion brands have focused their efforts on the Middle Kingdom, opening glittering stores in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai, as well as fast growing middleweight cities like Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Tianjin, and hosting high-profile public relations events, from exclusive VIP dinners to famously large-scale productions like Fendi’s runway spectacular on The Great Wall. And judging from recent figures, the results have been strong. According to the Boston Consulting Group, sales of luxury fashion goods in China increased by 33 percent to $40 billion last year, while experts estimate that the country will surpass the US to become the world’s largest luxury market by 2020.

Naturally, China’s emergence as a powerhouse market for fashion has given rise to a number of key figures who have been highly instrumental in driving and harnessing the spectacular momentum. Here, we present, in no particular order,  The Business of Fashion’s Top 20 movers, shakers and decision makers in China fashion. They are entrepreneurs, luxury executives, PR mavens, retail experts, editors, media moguls, models, bloggers and others who each have tremendous expertise and insight in their chosen domain and, collectively, form the backbone of the country’s fast growing fashion ecosystem.

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Xiu.com screenshot | Source: Xiu.com

We continue this week’s focus on e-commerce by turning our attention on how to succeed in the rapidly expanding e-commerce market in China. 

BEIJING, China — According to a recent report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), China is set to become the world’s next e-commerce superpower, surpassing the United States to become the largest online commerce market in the world, with an estimated market size of $300 billion. In 2006, less than 10 percent of China’s urban population shopped online. By 2015, that figure is expected to have quadrupled, reaching 44 percent, while the total number of e-commerce shoppers in China will grow to 329 million.

What’s more, according to BCG, China’s massive geography, a middle class that is rapidly expanding beyond the country’s largest cities, and widely accessible, heavily subsidised high-speed internet — broadband in China costs just $10 per month, compared with $30 per month in India — make the country unusually fertile ground for e-commerce, with internet access far outpacing the reach of physical retailers. Indeed, up to a quarter of e-commerce demand in China is for products consumers cannot find in physical stores, with apparel and skincare amongst the fastest-growing online categories.

But for fashion companies aiming to crack the online retail opportunity in China, it’s imperative to understand that the country’s e-commerce market is very different to established markets in the United States and Europe and that online shoppers in China — much younger, on average, than their Western counterparts — have different expectations, preferences and patterns of behaviour.

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Miu Miu Event in Shanghai, China | Source: Miu Miu

BEIJING, China — According to Bain & Company, a consulting firm, China is currently the world’s second largest consumer of luxury goods, ahead of Japan and second only to the United States. McKinsey forecasts that by 2015, China will account for around 20 per cent, or 180 billion renminbi (US$27 billion) of global luxury sales.

With numbers like these, it’s no surprise that a major land grab is underway amongst fashion brands eager to open new stores in China. But rapid retail expansion is only one part of a comprehensive strategy for seizing the opportunity in China. Equally important are a focused approach to local PR and product strategy.

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