Alibaba has launched a new platform ‘Luxury Soho’ – set to target savvy shoppers and helping high-end brands to avoid surplus inventory.
“Restricted movements led to reduced foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores – including from Chinese tourists who were not able to travel to brands’ boutiques and outlets in Western countries like they used to. So brands are now sitting on a worldwide abundance of stock and are also needing to find ways to reach new consumers. With Luxury Soho, brands can now move select products and collections onto an online outlet store and bring them in front of a specific audience that is waiting to discover new products and brands.” – Tmall’s head of fashion and luxury in Europe Christina Fontana
“Luxury Soho also plays into brands’ existing outlet strategies,” added Fontana. “It can empower them to diversify their strategies in China to handle excessive inventories with more flexibility. As a platform, we offer the tools for brands to run their own stores with full control over their pricing, product selection, strategy and look and feel. They can engage consumers in new ways using innovative features, from live streaming, augmented reality and 3D interactive technologies to virtual icons and flexible payment solutions. Brands can even tap their offline store associates to engage with consumers online to showcase certain products and answer questions,” concluded Fontana.
