Chinese e-commerce is currently the target of luxurious brands, such as Emporio Armani – that look open e-shops for the growing market, which has nearly doubled within the last year. According to CEO Giorgio Armani, “This is a strategic move that will open up luxury to the entire nation.”

Fashion giants plan to open e-commerce sites in lesser known cities such as Hohhot or Kunming, to fill the gap  in generally inaccessible locations. This strategy is affirmed by statistics which indicate that customers who come from remote locations tend to spend more than customer who are exposed to different retail outlets, and who use the power of competition within physical stores in order to obtain attractive discounts.

China is expected to surpass Japan, the leader  in luxurious brand shopping.  Moreover, online retail has piqued interest of Chinese customers over the last decade and Alibaba Group’s Taobao.com is a prime example of business which grows on the pillars of brick-and-mortar traditional stores.

The move toward  luxury brands e-commerce challenges the Chinese’s tendency for choosing cheap prices and being offered significant discounts.

The opportunities for luxury brands to enter the online shopping environment are endless, because of the younger buyers who are well informed. This is also confirmed by IBM, who reported record breaking selling figures on Black Friday. Social media plays an important role, as recommendations among  friends is highly rated in shopping behavior.

This global push for e-commerce is powered by Chinese search engine Baidu and Japanese internet company Rakuten, who are partnering in the release of on online mall. The commercial launch is expected for the beginning of the next year, and it confirms current globalization triends.  Baidu precedes this development with the announcement of the Youa Tengou’s launch. China is imitating U.S. strategies, and it seems that the group’s buying platform is akin of Google’s newly acquired Groupon.