Magazines Archives - 2012 April

Neiman Marcus going online to tap China’s luxury market
Story 4 - E-commerce

From left: Alain Soulas, co-founder of Glamour Sales Asia; Olivier Chouvet of Glamour Sales Asia; Karen Katz from The Neiman Marcus Group; and Thibault Villet, co-founder and CEO of Glamour Sales China.

US luxury retailer, The Neiman Marcus Group Inc, is looking to tap into China’s fast-growing luxury retail sector in its first overseas foray and is set to launch its e-commerce portal this year-end. In line with this, the company disclosed last month, that it will invest US$28 million into Hong Kong-based ecommerce company, Glamour Sales Holding, an authorised online flash sales operator. “Anyone who sells luxury has to be looking at China today. Our strategic investment in Glamour Sales gives us a tremendous partner and a strong foothold in a rapidly expanding luxury market,” said Karen Katz, president and CEO of Neiman Marcus, adding that the company is looking to establish itself as an “international brand”.

Katz continued: “We have a rich, century-long heritage with two prestigious brands — Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

“We believe that our vast experience and history of success in luxury and fashion, customer service and e-commerce, combined with Glamour Sales’ keen understanding of the Chinese market, present us with a unique opportunity to build a vibrant full-priced, multi-brand, luxury online business in China.”

The site will offer a mix of full-priced, current- season selections that will be skewed towards the discerning taste of the Chinese luxury consumer, as well as editorial content, fashion advice and behind-the-scenes videos, in order to provide insights into the brands it features on the site.

Added Olivier Chouvet, CEO of Glamour Sales: “This partnership represents the coming together of two pioneers. Neiman Marcus was the first luxury retailer to go online and Glamour Sales was the first to bring authorised flash sales to China.

“Together we look forward to offering Chinese customers the best merchandise and service available. And we will provide our customers with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that all of our luxury goods are authorised, authentic and sourced directly from the manufacturer.”

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