Tmall Luxury, China’s leading online destination for high-end and designer brands, launched new features to connect luxury brands with China’s Gen Z consumers. This digital-first fashion-forward customer base is fast becoming a driver of global luxury consumption. Aside from being digital natives, what sets China’s Gen Z apart from the previous generations of luxury buyers is their penchant for creative content, social media, and interactive features.

Three new features to educate, entertain, and engage were launched with this new generation of luxury buyers in mind.

1. Soho Live, a daily livestreaming service focusing on all things luxury, helping designer brands effectively leverage the popular medium to engage their Chinese fans through real-time interaction with their favorite KOLs and fashionistas.
2. Soho Mag, a content-rich channel with the latest fashion news jointly developed with fashion editors and trendsetting influencers that allows consumers to tune in any time for the latest fashion trends as well as shoppable editorial features.
3. Upgraded membership program offering personalized services to high-value customers.

Gen Z in China has demonstrated strong spending power for luxury goods. A report by McKinsey & Company showed China’s Gen Z spend an average of RMB 25,000 (US$3,600) a year on luxury goods, already as much as their parents—the post-’65s/’70s generation.

Their fondness for high-end goods is fused with their love for streetwear and anything inspired by pop culture. For them, luxury is more than a status symbol—it’s a vehicle for self-expression and identity. Under the “New Luxury” banner, Tmall is looking to celebrate the confidence, boldness, and open-mindedness of this new class of luxury shoppers.

The Numbers on Tmall Luxury:

• Around 80% of the customers on the platform are 35 years old or younger with the highest concentration in the 26-30 age group.
• The number of luxury consumers in the 18-25 age group more than doubled between July 2018 and June 2019.
• This younger consumer segment is set to become a bigger driver in the luxury industry.
• To date, nearly 200 leading brands have opened flagship stores on Tmall Luxury Pavilion.

“By providing Tmall’s unparalleled analytics and insights on luxury consumption in China, we empower luxury brands with a deeper and more accurate understanding of local consumer preferences,” said Mike Hu, Alibaba Group Vice President and General Manager of Tmall Luxury, Fashion, and FMCG. “These insights allow luxury brands to precisely tailor their communications to Chinese young audiences while staying true to their brand identities.”

Launched in 2017, Tmall Luxury is widely recognized by luxury brands around the world as the preferred platform to connect with China’s young shoppers. The new Luxury Soho channel, which caters to young value-conscious consumers, has also attracted a growing number of brands.

“Being on a digital platform such as Tmall allows Golden Goose to talk to consumers across China about the brand’s integrity, craftsmanship and its versatile range of products and to grow in a way that ensures both quality and quantity,” said Mauro Maggioni, Asia-Pacific CEO of Italian high-fashion brand Golden Goose, which launched on the Pavilion earlier this month. He added that China is the most ideal market to tell the brand story, thanks to the ecosystem that has already been in place.

Tmall Luxury’s incisive understanding of consumer trends in the luxury sector will help it to provide personalized, multitiered services to its high-end customers as part of its new upgraded membership program.