UK satchel start-up uses digital focus to enter China

The Cambridge Satchel Company, or CSC, a fast-developing British luxury bag maker, is expanding into China by opening online and offline stores.

The brand established a partnership with China's largest e-commerce service provider Alibaba and started trading its bags on Tmall.com in 2015. The bags are dispatched from the United Kingdom and should reach Chinese customers 15 days after orders are confirmed.

CSC has also opened counters in shops such as Shanghai's Lane Crawford and Beijing's Galleries Lafayette.

Founder Julie Deane said the brand would use local social media such as Sina Weibo and Wechat to boost brand awareness as it did with British equivalents in its early stages in the UK.

Before CSC launched in China, Chinese consumers had to buy its bags through its e-commerce platform in the UK, which contributed 25 to 30 percent revenue to the company's overall turnover in 2014. Deane said China was the company's third-largest market after the UK and the United States.

Deane said she was optimistic about her company's future in the Chinese market.

"We came out and found so many of our customers are on social media, but the social media we use is not available here, so it makes me feel excited about how successful we can be on Sina Weibo, Wechat and other social media," said Deane.

To cater to the preferences of Chinese consumers, Deane and her design team are adding Chinese elements to the bags. For instance, consumers can personalize bags by adding a goat logo during the Year of the Goat.

Deane visited China for the first time with British Prime Minister David Cameron as a trading delegation member in late 2013 and managed to get an insight into the Chinese market.

"I heard that the Chinese market was very difficult for Western brands and some brands struggled because the market was different. When I came with the Prime Minister, I really wanted to try to get a feel for the market and seek ways for a small company like Cambridge Satchel to come to China and do well without setting up more brick-and-mortar stores," said Deane.

As a new entrant to the Chinese market, CSC has not set sales targets at this stage.

"It is a big market. However, we really need to understand what Chinese customers want and what they value, then, we will have a target," said Deane, who established the brand in her kitchen with just 600 pounds ($933) of start-up funds in 2008. CSC has become one of the most successful businesses in the UK with a market value of 13 million euros ($14.8 million) in 2013.

tangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn