Luxury industry seeks to expand in China

The Armani group has launched an E-commerce website for its Emporio Armani brand in China. Today, the luxury industry is seeking to expand its influence on the fastest-growing Chinese consumer of high-end goods.

In the world's most populous country, more than one-third of people are netizens. The Emporio Armani website is the first such site to be launched by a large luxury goods group, developed and managed by Yoox Group, a luxury E-commerce professional. The launch comes as luxury-goods companies are increasingly turning to the internet to achieve growth.

John Hooks, vice president of the Armani Group, said: "China's impossible to us (and to everyone else) is too much to exaggerate, and E-commerce is to cater to this." ”

The Armani group, which has 160 stores in the region, is one of the largest luxury goods companies, with China accounting for 10% of the combined global sales revenue of 1.5 billion euros (2 billion US dollars). Hooks said it was easy to rise to 20%.

Hooks said that by launching a dedicated electronic store emporioarmani.cn, he wanted to be exposed to "younger, more affluent consumers who are familiar with computers" and to "move the Chinese" as a new group.

"When it comes to China, we're not just talking about China, it's about Chinese tourists," he told the FT. ”

Sales of Milan and Paris stores rose more than 70% per cent in the past year as Chinese tourists became Europe's fastest-growing market as the government eased visa restrictions. Federico Machetti Federico Marchetti, Yoox Group chief executive, said the launch of the Emporio Armani site would serve as a bridgehead for other single brand E-commerce sites in the region.