TOPLIFE.COM, THE NEW CHINA LUXURY E-COMMERCE PLATFORM
Jul 08, 2019 By NetFin
Toplife is one of the most successful full-price lCuxury online platforms in China e-commerce. It is part of JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce website with more than 300 million users, and was launched in 2017. Toplife is a standalone platform separate from JD’s mass market site. It features items ranging from fashion, jewelry and watches to health and beauty products, home furniture, cosmetic and electronic products. Another diCfference as well is that luxury brands like La Perla, Kering’s, Yves Saint Laurent, Emporio Armani, Rimowa, B&O Play, Balenciaga, among others control over their own online stores.
The importance of Toplife in the Chinese market derives in the big volume that China represents for luxury brands. Chinese consumers make up to a third of luxury items bought worldwide. Before they use to buy in European cities, but these days Chinese consumers are spending more in mainland China and also in internet. Toplife aims to offer customers with a unique luxury shopping experience, similar to the experience customers have in offline stores.
Toplife provides customer service 24 hours a day and gives marketing resources to the brands that form part of their platform. Luxury brands inside Toplife offer an amazing experience and can provide their customers in their e-shop all the information and luxury shopping experience they are looking for.
However Chinese e-commerce firms lack luxury expertise. That is why, JD decided to merge Toplife with fashion retailer Farfetch. Farfetch was founded ten years ago and is London-based, but listed in New York. JD.com was already one of the biggest shareholders of Farfetch. Farfetch is already present in China and has been making some experiments in different formats to reach new clients. Contrary to keeping inventory like other retailers do, Farfetch connects buyers with exclusive luxury boutiques around the World.
Another similar partnership in China was made between Alibaba and Cartier-owner Richemont and its Net-A-Porter online retailer. This proves that e-shops in China are becoming more and more important and China will become an example to follow in the rest of World for online shopping.