Richemont and Alibaba Bring Luxury to China

RAPAPORT... Richemont has partnered with Alibaba Group to improve Chineseconsumers' access to the Swiss retailer's luxury platforms. Alibaba will provide the technology and infrastructure to helpRichemont sell to the Chinese market through its e-commerce sites, Net-a-Porterand Mr Porter, the companies said Friday. Richemont will launch two mobile appsfor those platforms, as well as making the online stores available on Alibaba'sTmall Luxury Pavilion, a platform for high-end brands. "Chinese customers at home and abroad are an increasinglyimportant customer base for Richemont and for the broader luxury industry,"said Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont, which owns Cartier and Van Cleef& Arpels. "Our digital offering in China is in its infancy, and we believethat partnering with Alibaba will enable us to become a significant andsustainable online player in this market." Richemont-owned Yoox Net-? -Porter (YNAP) - whichincorporates both Net-? -Porter and Mr Porter - already sells products from about950 luxury brands to the Chinese market, the groups explained. "As Chinese consumers continue to upgrade their lifestyles,we want to meet the desires of Alibaba's more than 600 million users," saidAlibaba CEO Daniel Zhang. "We believe this...is just the beginning of a long-termpartnership, and together we are committed to exploring many more opportunitiesto collaborate in the future." Image: Alibaba Group headquarters, Hangzhou, China. (The Craft)