‘New retail,’ which integrates online and offline commerce and services, has been a hot concept since last year. E-commerce corporations tend to gain market share by opening offline stores, which makes it difficult to distinguish between online and offline markets.
Secoo, Asia’s largest luxury products and services platform, acted early in offline business by opening its brick-and-mortar stores in three Chinese megacities dating back to 2011. Now, the Nasdaq-listed company is eyeing further offline expansion by launching its ‘New Life’ strategy on November 16. Its offline expansion strategy, called ‘5+2+1,’ includes the opening of five new offline experience centers, two high-end customized hotels, and supply chain synchronization with a batch of local and international brands.
Li Rixue, Secoo’s founder and CEO, recently said: “The standards of high quality lifestyle vary from time to time. Pursuing high-quality goods and enjoying experiences are key elements of luxurious living at the moment.”
According to Li, the five offline experience centers will be located in 1.5-tier cities. They will be distinctively designed, reflecting the cultures and histories of their different locations. Each experience center will include at least one independent space dedicated to local cultural activities. For example, ‘Secoo·Ming,’ a cultural theme museum, will be set up in Xiamen and will exhibit exquisite global tea sets and tea. It will give customers the convenience of enjoying tasty tea while shopping.
What’s more, Secoo and two high-end boutique hotels, Wyndham and Country Garden, have launched plans for a ‘Secoo theme executive suite’ that will provide luxury customized suites for clients. For this product, big data will be used to analyze customers’ demands. For example, customers can order their clothes before travelling, and hotels can then prepare what they need beforehand. The combination of online and offline service may enable Secoo to identify various kinds of unsatisfied needs high-profile customers have.
Apart from this, Secoo will start all-around cooperation with more than 30 domestically and internationally famous brands such as Versace and Diane Von Furstenberg. Customers will be able to shop on Secoo and then collect their goods in these brands’ physical stores.
Secoo’s third quarter preliminary unaudited financial results show that the company’s net profit is expected to achieve year-on-year growth of 782% to 900%. GMV through the first three quarters is expected to reach between USD 207.4 million to USD 208.9 million, which is an increase of approximately 65% over the same period last year. Finally, it is expected that total revenue will reach between USD 145.8 million and USD 147.3 million, an increase of 42% to 44% from last year.
(Top photo from Secoo)
