The past two years have seen the number of luxury brands grow by more than 87% on the WeChat platform. However, there is still much work to be done in order to insure that all Chinese customers are being effectively reached.
More than 90% of all global luxury brands already have a WeChat account, which has been a huge surge since 2014. WeChat sits just barely below Weibo, who holds accounts for 94% of these luxury brands.
An interesting note has been uncovered, stating that more than three quarters of these luxury brands say that they prefer feature-friendly accounts, making it easier for consumers to make purchases. However, less than ten percent of these brands have a platform for ecommerce or payments through WeChat.
High Earners, Not Rich Yet, otherwise known as HENRY in demographics in China, represents a particular segment of consumers. They are young professionals, on the rise, who have the ability to afford luxury goods and frequent travel options. They are a target market on WeChat.
While fashion, watches and jewelry are categories with high impact in luxury goods, the beauty product brand is gaining ground. While they provide a large following, the lifecycle of the product itself is much shorter. In this field, it has been found that binding information that is more personal, such as phone numbers and email addresses, allows for better insight into customer buying behavior. They use this information to send messages targeted specifically to their desires for more successful market campaigns on the platform.
Some of the most recent brands to test marketing on the WeChat platform include Burberry and LVMH. Some WeChat users find that their messaging app is their only source of interaction with brands such as these. As more and more companies become payment partners with WeChat, there will be more and more opportunity for these brands to see success on the mobile messaging platform.
Many of these luxury brands have utilized ecommerce in order to take advantage of the desire of luxury goods among mobile users. There has been a great deal of concern, however, when problems that seem to continue, such as counterfeit sales. Other challenges that sometimes overtake luxury brands are logistical in nature. There are many security issues in shipping high-dollar goods, especially those traveling long distances. Customers who purchase these luxury items expect items they have purchased to be coming to them in premium boxes. This is the main way of telling exactly what is inside.