Net-A-Porter makes China debut via Alibaba’s Tmall

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Sep 30, 2019

Net-A-Porter announced on Monday it has launched on Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion, marking the start of Richemont and Alibaba Group’s joint venture.

The two retail giants first announced their strategic partnership, designed to help launch Yoox Net-A-Porter’s retail platforms in China, in October 2018.

It has taken almost a full year for the long-term project to start, with Alibaba and Yoox Net-A-Porter working to deliver curated homepages, customised brand pages, product recommendations and personalised content.

The opening of Net-A-Porter’s flagship store on Tmall Luxury Pavilion will bring the latest collections retailed by both Net-A-Porter and MR Porter to online luxury consumers in China under one storefront.

More than 130 luxury designer brands for women and men are already available, with more to come in the following months. Richemont said the online store will also feature exclusive capsule collections and timepieces from brands such as IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai and Roger Dubuis.

In addition to launching on Tmall, Net-A-Porter and MR Porter will launch two mobile apps for consumers in China.

“The unveiling of the Net-A-Porter flagship store on Tmall Luxury Pavilion is an important first step in the development of our long term partnership with Alibaba. Together, we seek to address the sophisticated needs of the Chinese luxury clientele and capture this unique growth opportunity. This partnership will set new standards for the future of luxury online,” said Jérôme Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of Richemont

“This game-changing partnership between Richemont, Alibaba and Yoox Net-A-Porter unites three world leaders who together are redefining the way Chinese customers shop for luxury. Net-A-Porter’s flagship store on Tmall Luxury Pavilion will become THE online destination where luxury brands want to be in China, leveraging Net-A-Porter and MR Porter’s two decades of expertise and pioneering innovation,” added Federico Marchetti, chairman and CEO of Yoox Net-A-Porter Group.

“Chinese shoppers can explore a unique selection of the world’s most desirable brands carefully curated just for them, enhanced by an unmatched personalised experience and exclusive products that cannot be found elsewhere.” 

Net-A-Porter flagship store’s grand launch campaign will begin in the second week of October, after China’s Golden Week.