Tmall, YSL collaborate on US sales event

The location was the California desert and featured Chinese celebrities and image makers and even a popup "lipstation'' on a highway.

It all was part of the first Super Brand Day event held by Alibaba and YSL in the US.

The event highlighted the beauty brand's growing success in attracting young Chinese consumers on Tmall, as well as the e-commerce giant's success in eliminating counterfeit products on its platform.

A private party on April 11 featured performances by budding Chinese celebrities and key Chinese opinion and image influencers such as Lexie Liu, Meiqi Meng and Jiayuan Dou. It was live streamed on YSL Beauté's Tmall page to millions of Chinese viewers from Palm Springs, California, prior to the special sales event on April 23.

To further engage generations Y and Z shoppers who make up the bulk of YSL Beauté's online client base on Alibaba's B2C platform, the launch party took place a day before the start of Coachella, held annually in California and featuring music stars and emerging music artists.

As part of the marketing event, organizers put together a popup "lipstation", which resembled a retro gas station, on the state highway and gave festival goers the opportunity to get a facial makeover on their way to Coachella.

"YSL Beauté opened its store on Tmall for the first time last year and its participation on the platform is very meaningful to us, not just in terms of sales, but also because such a young and fashionable brand is a good leader and influencer of new trends among young Chinese consumers," said Bo Liu, president of Tmall marketing.

"YSL Beauté has also experienced explosive growth since joining our platform and has gained a great number of young followers, so I think both sides have benefited from the collaboration," he added.

David IOP, vice-president of YSL Beauté's international brand communications and image, said China is a strategic market for the brand because young Chinese consumers want luxury brand products.

These shoppers focus on innovative, high-end merchandise, and value the history of brands, all of which are in-line with the L'Oreal-owned beauty brand's emphasis.

"It's really a good fit between the new Chinese consumers and the brand value," he said.

Tmall said that more than half of YSL Beauté consumers on the platform are in the 18 to 25 age group, while those who are 26 to 30 years old represent about 22.4 percent of its client base, a significantly younger turnout compared to its offline shoppers, where the average customer age is about 27.

According to a report by management consultancy Bain & Company, the Chinese luxury goods market saw a 20 percent increase in 2018, and millennials with growing spending power are a main driving force behind the growth.

"Consumers aged 23 to 38 are willing to spend on luxury brands, and financially able to do so. Fully 70 percent of China's millennials own their own homes — twice the rate of US millennials, according to HSBC's Beyond the Bricks study," the report said.

Super Brand Day, started five years ago, is a miniature version of Alibaba's famous Singles Day sales event held in November but it targets a specific brand. YSL Beauté's debut of its flagship store on Tmall in April 2018 reaped RMB 38 million in sales, shattering the previous single-day sales record held by Givenchy, which was $29 million.