Sergio Rossi Offers Pre-Order Perks For Chinese Online Shoppers

Italian Brand Bought Back 5 China Franchises From Local Partner Last Year

As home-grown and international players continue to battle it out in China’s booming luxury e-commerce market, one domestic retailer, Shangpin (尚品) recently scored a victory with the launch of an official pre-order microsite for PPR-owned Italian label Sergio Rossi’s A/W 2012 collection. From August 9-16 on its official Shangpin microsite, Sergio Rossi is offering customers who pre-order its new collection a 20 percent discount (stipulating that they must pay online) in advance of the sale start date of August 17. The microsite also includes shots of celebrities, ranging from Zhou Xun to Jennifer Lopez, wearing the high heels from the collection and — for the sake of brand education — plenty of information about Sergio Rossi.

While it’s difficult to gauge how this effort has translated to (pre)sales, Sergio Rossi’s pre-order perks are going over very well with China’s luxury and fashion media. QQ has lauded the brand’s prioritizing of mainland Chinese consumers, while Sina called the  20 percent discount an “unprecedented fashion courtesy” for Chinese shoppers.

Now with 13 stores in mainland China and six in Hong Kong, Sergio Rossi has been on a major expansion push over the past year, buying back five China franchises from local partner Kutu Trading Co. and looking to double its locations within the next several years. Now getting more deeply involved in the country’s e-commerce market — which, for some brands, is becoming easier and more cost-effective than building brick-and-mortar stores – Sergio Rossi is trying out new sales formats, specifically pre-orders, on Shangpin.