How Apple Became China's Most Coveted Luxury Brand. When a Chinese publishing group recently released its consumer survey of the luxury market in China, the top ranking wasn't held by a brand like Chanel, Louis Vuitton or Hermes. Instead, Apple was named this year's preferred brand for gifting among China's richest men and women. The designation is not just a testament to Apple's awe-inspiring growth, which was illustrated quite profoundly by this week's not-so-outlandish investor claims that the company is worth close to $1.3 trillion.
It's also a sign of the shift from luxury as status symbol to luxury as cultural code . Where status symbols show off economic success, codes are reflections of one's cultural capital. "Apple has all the markings of a luxury brand: a tightly controlled narrative, considered design and metered supply, especially around launches and in certain emerging markets," says Colin Nagy, executive director of media at New York agency The Barbarian Group.
BMW Revamps China Marketing to Focus Less on Status. BMW AG will increase spending on online marketing in China and emphasize its technology as part of efforts to target younger buyers, who care more about the latest features than the emblem as a status symbol. The world’s largest premium-car brand will highlight technology features, some developed especially for the Chinese market, such as steering settings that help with parking and seats that help tone muscles. The company will also offer free Internet connection in its cars for 10 years. That represents a move away from promoting the brand in China as a mark of success, after a two-year study of more than 3,000 consumers showed younger buyers preferred value such as innovation and sustainability. BMW, like other premium automakers, had in the past played up extra legroom and plush backseats in marketing their executive sedans, stretching them for the China market because businessmen and bureaucrats liked being chauffeured.
BMW to focus on youth and high-tech innovation in China. BMW says that it will be shifting its marketing plan in China to focus on the youth segment and in-car innovations, instead of stretched wheelbases and luxurious rear passenger accommodation that is the norm over the past few years. It will also move away from promoting the brand as an epitome of one’s success. In a two-year study, the company surveyed more than 3,000 consumers, and findings show that young Chinese buyers are seeking for technological features and sustainable vehicles more than stretched cars. Karsten Engel, CEO of BMW China said, “the Chinese market is at a crossroad for fundamental changes.” He noted that in China, it has become apparent that an increasing number of consumers of premium brands come from Generation X and Y. BMW has developed in-car features to cater specifically to the Chinese market. The new G11/G12 BMW 7 Series is the innovative game changer for the brand.
Alibaba launches Alitrip into hotel IT solutions space. Alibaba Group has made the first big announcement regarding its standalone travel business alitrip.com, and it’s all about the “hotel of the future.” The initiative “aims to use network and Big Data technology to enhance customer service and improve innkeepers’ ability to attract travellers and retain them as loyal guests.” Alitrip.com was launched last October as a standalone business unit within the giant Alibaba Group. Previously Alibaba ran Taobao Travel as a deals-led channel on its Taobao Marketplace. But Alitrip was always going to be more than just a distribution platform. One of Alibaba Group’s first moves after its blockbuster IPO last September was spending $450 million on a 15% stake in hotel technology specialist Beijing Shiji Information Technology (Shiji).
Shiji is at the heart of the Hotel of the Future program, and is one of a number of Alibaba Group interests that are involved in Alitrip’s plans. These guests are vetted by Sesame, a credit agency owned by Alibaba. Alipay Wallet aims at offline payment expansion to supermarkets and shopping malls - Kapronasia. With over 270 million active Alipay Wallet users and extensive collaborations with overseas global online merchants, Chinese e-commerce payment powerhouse Alipay now is making its expansion into China’s domestic offline stores and soon to the global market.
On May 13th, Walmart China announced their collaboration with Alibaba which will allow its users to make purchases through the Alipay mobile wallet in 25 of Walmart's stores in southern China. Visitors can pay by using Alibaba wallet, which is the mobile version of Alibaba's online payment unit Alipay. Retail stores have scanners to read barcodes in the app, with payment then taken in seconds. Currently more than 40,000 retail stores operating in China, including Carrefour and Family Mart accept payments through the app. Alipay also has ambitions of going global by expanding their payment service to cater to the Chinese travelers’ overseas shopping needs. Alipay et Global Blue collaborent | Local Services - Global Blue. Paris, le 23 juin 2014 – Alipay, le numéro un en Chine des fournisseurs de paiement en ligne et Global Blue, le spécialiste suisse des achats et des dépenses internationales, viennent d’annoncer que les entreprises allaient collaborer pour permettre aux touristes chinois d’être directement remboursés sur leurs comptes Alipay de la TVA payée sur les biens et services achetés auprès des partenaires commerciaux de Global Blue en Europe.
À compter du 8 juillet 2014, 5 000 intermédiaires en France, Allemagne, Italie, Corée du Sud et Grande-‐Bretagne proposeront ce service via Global Blue, ce qui comprend notamment les grands magasins tels qu’Harrods en Grande-‐Bretagne, KaDeWe en Allemagne et La Rinascente en Italie. D’autres pays devraient également proposer ce même service dans les prochains mois. « Les touristes chinois sont nos principaux clients étrangers, avec une moyenne de 815 euros par transaction basée sur leurs remboursements de TVA traités par nos soins. 1. Acheter 2. Tamponner. Alipay launches ePass to give Western retailers easy access to China's growing e-commerce consumer base. The UpTake: Alipay, the payment platform that powers Alibaba, is offering growth-hungry Western retailers something they may find hard to refuse: access to the growing number of middle class and affluent Chinese e-commerce shoppers in cities like Shanghai and Beijing.
F irst, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba came to U.S. shores for an initial public offering that demonstrated the rising influence of the Chinese economy in global retail. Now comes Alipay, its online payment platform, which launches a program today called Alipay ePass, offering American and other Western retailers access to China’s coveted middle-class and luxury consumers. The ePass program addresses often troublesome issues such as currency exchange, customs, and shipping logistics for Western retailers seeking to cater to Chinese consumers who want to shop their sites online, said Alipay U.S. president Jingming Li, who spoke to reporters in New York on Tuesday afternoon.
Alipay rolls out overseas card service - Business - Chinadaily.com.cn. Alipay: Chinese payment service's US chief talks US ambitions, Uber - Fortune. © Time Inc. All rights reserved. Fortune.com is a part of the Time.com network of sites. Powered by WordPress.com VIP Email address or Password is incorrect Forgot Password? Want the Full Story? Privacy Policy Thank you for your interest in licensing Fortune content. 1.
How China leapfrogged the West on internet innovation | Europe’s World. I have just spent two years in China, working in an environment where the online world seemed to change every month. I saw the rise and decline of China’s most popular microblog Sina Weibo, and the explosive growth of Wechat, a new ‘chat app on steroids’. Along with the shakeout of hundreds of group-buying websites, I saw a country leapfrog technology because Chinese consumers skipped desktop and laptop computers and went straight for online access through high quality smartphones. After China, I found that the pace of change back in the Netherlands sluggish; compared to China some areas seemed to be five years behind.
The only major difference that had occurred back home seemed to be that people were no longer using SMS but Whatsapp, which seems to me like an inferior version of WeChat, while data mining was for some reason now being called Big Data. “We need to realise that the days of ‘China the copycat’ and ‘China the factory of the world’ are soon to be far behind us” Alibaba Rethinks Its US E-Commerce Strategy, Folds 11 Main, Other U.S. Holdings Into OpenSky. China’s e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba has been clear about its ambitions to grow its presence in the U.S. — in part as a facilitator between Western companies and Chinese consumers by way of services like Alipay, and in part as a way to expand its own marketplace footprint.
But it is also going through some growing pains as it figures out how to carve out a place for itself in the mature U.S. market. TechCrunch has learned, and confirmed, that Alibaba is calling it a day on operating 11 Main, its U.S. -based Amazon competitor, as a standalone operation. Alibaba has struck a deal with New York-based OpenSky, a social shopping marketplace, in which 11 Main’s operations will be folded into OpenSky, along with Auctiva, Vendio, and SingleFeed — three other U.S. companies that Alibaba acquired between 2010 and 2011 that provide logistics and fulfilment services for 11 Main. As a result of the transaction, Alibaba will become a 37 percent owner of OpenSky. What's behind the global success of Alibaba's AliExpress. AliExpress, Alibaba’s B2C site, is Russia’s most visited e-commerce platform, but its global growth and constant expansion are inevitable. It is drawing in bargain shoppers from all around the world.
Wall Street Journal just reported that Brazilian bargain shoppers are being drawn in by China’s AliExpress. From June to July, the number of visitors in Brazil jumped by 40%. Brazilian shoppers search for bargain prices, which they don’t have at home, and that’s what AliExpress provides them. AliExpress’ global popularity Over 12 million browsed the AliExpress website in July, three times more than eBay. Brazil is now in the top five audience of AliExpress. The e-commerce site has already become popular in the US, Russia and Brazil. AliExpress sells $4.5 billion in one year (from June 30, 2013 to June 30, 2014) to consumers outside of China, giving Chinese merchants the chance to sell to shoppers around the world, the company’s executives stated as reported by Internet Retailer.
E-commerce giant Alibaba aims to win outside China - CNET. HANOI, Vietnam -- The lights in the conference room flickered a couple of times and then turned off completely. The hum of the air conditioner quieted and the room became still -- unnaturally so for a technology company trying to enter the noisy smartphone business. I was at the Hanoi headquarters of BKAV, a Vietnamese company that's made its money selling security software but now wants a piece of the $2.2 billion smartphone market here. The electricity in the building -- located around the corner from the city's tallest skyscraper, the Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower -- sputtered in the middle of a presentation about the company's first phone.
I'm told it "happens sometimes. " In early June, a few weeks before I arrived here, BKAV launched the Bphone, which it touts as the first smartphone designed and made in Vietnam. BKAV's mission is part of a technological revolution happening in Vietnam. BKAV's sights, though, are squarely aimed at the premium market. Sounds great for BKAV, right? Alibaba and its Open (Sesame!) ecosystem | Launchworks Ventures. I had the privilege to listen to Charles Li, CEO of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) at a recent conference in Singapore. He shared his views about China’s economic growth over the next few years as well as his vision and ambitions for HKSE. As someone asked him why Alibaba ended up listing on the NYSE instead of HKSE, he gave a very diplomatic answer about regulation but as he spoke I could hear pangs of regret and a hint of frustration in his voice.
Who would blame him given the importance of such a high profile IPO. Alibaba is not just a large Chinese online company…it is the world’s largest e-commerce company. Transactions on Alibaba group sites accounted for more than $300 bn last year. It’s also one of the most valuable companies with market cap of $232bn[1]. Its 3 main consumer-facing sites, Taobao.com, Tmall.com and Juhuasuan.com have over 300 million active buyers[2]. Picture 1: Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) in $ billions, Q4 2014 With tough competition lurking (e.g. Search. China leads in digital innovation. HONG KONG: Marketers around the world have much to learn from what is happening in China, according to a leading industry figure, who regards it as leading the field in terms of digital innovation and O2O. Speaking to Campaign Asia-Pacific, Michael McLaren, global CEO of MRM/McCann, enthused about digital developments in that country. "The China digital landscape in unbelievable," he said.
The innovation he saw taking place there was "truly world class". One reason for this may be that Chinese marketers are less set in their ways of thinking than their counterparts in more developed markets, as consumerism has really only taken off there in the past six or seven years. Consumers are similarly open to new ways of doing things. "I think there's a receptivity to innovation in that marketplace that is not something you see everywhere in the world," McLaren observed. That effective use of social and digital could, he suggested, be successfully tied in with a more traditional media approach. Europe's Falling Behind as China Soars in Digital Innovation. Poor Europe can’t catch a break. The region’s not only trying to keep its currency together, but also struggling to keep up with the fast-moving digital economy. The Digital Evolution Index, created by the Fletcher School at Tufts University, paints a grim picture of the state of technological innovation in the self-anointed old continent.
The top 10 nations with the most negative scores over time hail from Europe, barring Australia. For Nordic countries such as Norway and Finland, which have a hallowed history of innovation, the index serves as a warning that they’re losing momentum. Leave it to Asian nations to yet again lead the charge of priming their economies for electronic commerce. To measure performance past and present, Tufts took into account four drivers of Internet growth: consumer demand, supply and existing infrastructure, institutional environment and innovation.