German luxury e-tailer Mytheresa is refocusing its efforts to grow its business in China, a notoriously competitive e-commerce landscape dominated by local giants Alibaba and, increasingly, Douyin, the Chinese version of Tiktok.
The company plans to court shoppers in the world’s third-largest luxury market by employing personal shoppers and holding in-person events, its CEO said on Monday.
“The company [globally] has grown 20 per cent-plus in recent years and our expectation from China in coming years is double that,” Chief Executive Michael Kliger told Reuters in Shanghai. “Because we are so small here, this doesn’t even mean we are going against the big guys, it’s still a very special customer we focus on.”
Kliger said the company was positioned to appeal to “mature” luxury customers in China, adding that Mytheresa’s top three per cent of customers account for 35 per cent of total sales. “The luxury customer that just starts a love affair with luxury that is looking for her or his first piece, it’s probably not the target that we have in mind,” he added.
