[China Glass Network] Global cosmetics retailer SEPHORA (Sevran) announced yesterday that it has launched a full-scale store in China for a year in its online store in China. Sephora is transplanting its successful online store business model in North America to China. Market, but operating sales is not optimistic. Experts say that China's online sales potential is unlimited. Body Bag,Luxury Oxford Body Bag,Pvc Body Bag Acme Textile Co., Ltd. , http://www.cardboard-casket.com
Sephora online store China is cold
A year ago, Sephora moved its online store, which had a relatively successful operation in North America, to China, but the remarkable sales performance in North America did not appear in China. Yesterday, Sephora China Chairman Zhou Jisi told reporters that although the weekly sales of Sephora China's online stores have increased, compared with the “substantial sales†in North America and Europe, there is still a big gap in the Chinese market.
Sephora launched its online store in North America and France in 1999 and 2005 respectively. It relied on the online store for a complete range of products and good after-sales service. Sephora currently operates 23 retail stores in 8 cities in China. As an international cosmetics retailer, Sephora sells more than 60 international first-line cosmetics brands such as Dior and Gucci. Sephora said that its online store is the same as the physical store. All the branded products sold in the online store, after-sales problems can be directly solved in the physical store. Under this sales model, the safety factor and after-sales service of the goods sold in the online store are relatively sound.
Regarding the coldness of Sephora online store in China, Zhou Jisi said that this has something to do with the big environment of China's online sales. China's online transactions are relatively backward compared with North America and Europe, and the consumption awareness of online cosmetics purchase needs to be cultivated.
According to statistics from relevant parties, as of June 30, 2007, the total number of Internet users in China reached 162 million. In 2007, iResearch’s online payment report in the previous quarter showed that the domestic online payment market has reached 16 billion yuan. Therefore, Sephora is still optimistic about the prospects of online stores in China.
Security services restrict online transactions
After more than a decade of development, online transactions are no stranger to Chinese consumers, but there are very few people who actually shop online. Payment security, virtual display, and after-sales service are all concerns of most consumers. According to the news from the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the "12315" telephone complaint statistics show that online consumption is gradually becoming a new hot spot for complaints. Experts believe that most consumers in China still stay in the traditional "touch" consumption, which also hinders the development of online stores to a certain extent. In addition, the online store sales also put forward higher requirements for the merchant's logistics distribution system.
The mix of various online small shops has also increased consumer distrust of online stores. Constrained by various factors, the operating efficiency of online stores opened by some traditional retailers is not optimistic, and many online stores are still in a state of loss. But the huge market and low cost of online stores have made traditional retailers rush to open stores.
Traditional retailers rush to the Internet
Similar to the situation where the Sephora online store was cold in China did not affect the traditional Chinese retailers entering the online store. Wangfujing Department Store opened Shuangan Mall last year, and said that within 3 years, some chain stores in Wangfujing have opened online shopping malls, Carrefour. At the end of last year, the online store was also opened, and the home appliance chain Gome and Suning Appliance began to promote online shopping a few years ago.
Laiyang, secretary-general of the Beijing Business Economics Association, said that consumer shopping habits are polarized, and some consumers are comfortable with traditional consumption patterns, while a considerable number of consumers are turning to more convenient consumption. For some new generations of young consumers, online shopping can save time and effort in shopping, and can easily "shop around" on the Internet.
With the rapid growth of Chinese netizens, the development of network technologies and the improvement of consumption levels, the market for online shopping is growing. Hong Tao, director of the Institute of Business Economics at Beijing Technology and Business University, believes that online store opening has become a new competitive area outside the traditional retail store.
An important feature of traditional retailers opening online stores is the interaction between online stores and physical stores. Compared to pure online stores, online stores combined with physical stores have advantages in inventory, logistics, and branding, and their costs are relatively low. Hong Tao said that online stores are an extension of retail store sales, the brand effect of physical stores can promote the operation of online stores, and online stores can also activate the sales of physical stores.
Hong Tao said that the problem of online stores is mainly that electronic and business have not been organically combined. Some businesses have not found a suitable profit model. The operation of online stores in China is more at the stage of exploration. Laiyang said that businesses should not regard online stores as a major target in the short term, and try to gain operational experience in advance.