The ongoing battle for luxury between Tmall, JD and WeChat

JD.com’s play to attract foreign luxury brands has brought mixed results throughout the years. The e-commerce giant currently has partnerships with more than 200 luxury brands, including Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo and Giorgio Armani. In 2019, JD merged its luxury e-commerce platform, Toplife, with Farfetch China but, in an apparent win for rival Tmall, Farfetch stopped operating on JD in December 2020 and instead opened a flagship on Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion in 2021 following Alibaba and Richemont’s joint investment in Farfetch in November last year. At the same time, with the launch of its mini programs in 2017, WeChat also entered the luxury arena, allowing brands to sell through its mega app.

According to Knight, part of the challenge for JD has been to shake off its image as a retailer of electronics, white-label goods and household items. He also points out Alibaba’s wide overseas presence, with offices in Europe and the US, has allowed Tmall to build trust with brand owners and decision-makers. In the last year, Cartier, Prada and Gucci have opened flagship stores on the platform.

In an interview with Vogue Business in late 2019, Kevin Jiang of JD Fashion and Lifestyle admitted the business was growing very quickly, but still contributing “relatively small” to the overall JD.com. This new partnership model with Louis Vuitton could boost the platform’s attractiveness to other luxury players, especially if JD is open to launch ad-hoc and flexible partnership models to better suit brands’ individual needs, experts say.

“This Louis Vuitton tie-up will be important in the overall trajectory of the platform’s growth. Consumer uptake and JD’s ability to onboard other brands in this way will be crucial,” says Knight.