Big Spender
A V-shape rebound in postCOVID-19 China?
Alibaba’s Tmall is trying to push that into reality. It said Tuesday that during the upcoming 618 shopping festival, Tmall will, together with local governments and brands, release a stimulus plan worth more than 10 billion renminbi, or $1.41 billion, the largest amount this year, with cash consumption coupons and subsidies, starting next Monday.
Tmall is treating June 18 as the midyear Singles’ Day this year. More than 100,000 brands have signed up for the event, double that of last year, and more than 10 million products will offer discounts to attract buyers.
This move ties in with Chinese cities’ efforts to stimulate spending as lockdown measures began to be eased since April. For example, Shanghai’s municipal government united retailers across the city and e-commerce players to host the inaugural Double Five Shopping Festival, running from May 5 to June 30, and luxury brands are playing a key role in the initiatives.
Brands used to see the midyear shopping event, originated by JD.com, as a new source of growth, but now, it may well be a life-saving battle for them to bring in revenue.
According to a memo seen by WWD, more than 400,000 transactions were made on the 618 shopping festival’s prologue, the May 20, Chinese Valentine’s Day event on Tmall’s Luxury Pavillion, with average spending on each order up 61 percent.
Some 150 luxury brands unveiled more than 5,000 items for the special occasion, while Balenciaga and Chloé joined Luxury Pavilion during the event to further bolster their presence in the country.
Luxury beauty is the fastestgrowing category on Luxury Pavilion. Brands saw an average of 200 percent growth since the beginning of May. Yves
Saint Laurent sold over 100,000 lipsticks in two weeks, and sales of La Mer grew eightfold.
Alibaba also announced today that it will invest 10 billion renminbi this year to strengthen its AIoT
(AI and IoT) ecosystem centered around its smart speaker, Tmall Genie, the best-selling smart speaker in China, according to IDC and Euromonitor. The gadget has connected more than 1,100 brands with 270 million devices in China. — TIANWEI ZHANG
City hospitals to provide complimentary La Colombe coffee and baked goods to hospital workers as a gesture of the company’s gratitude for their service.
Recently, Ralph’s Coffee truck was stationed outside the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Care Center and will continue to visit additional hospitals within the New York metro area over the next several weeks.
In addition, Ralph Lauren Corp. said Wednesday that it is donating about 1.5 million clothing products to support hundreds of thousands of frontline workers and families in need worldwide. The items include loungewear, a well as sweatshirts, sweatpants, T-shirts and sweaters. They will be donated through charity networks as well as many of the company’s longstanding Pink Pony partners focused on cancer care.
This donation builds on the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation’s $10 million commitment to support COVID-19 relief, as previously reported. — LISA LOCKWOOD
Jenner was paid $275,000 for the Instagram post and that the post did not specify that she was being paid to promote the festival. The court documents also state that Jenner suggested in the post’s caption that her brotherin-law, Kanye West, would be performing at the festival.
The Fyre Festival has resulted in several lawsuits since the music event failed to come to fruition. The festival spawned Hulu and Netflix documentaries detailing how the Bahamas-based music event lured guests on false claims of celebrity attendees and luxury accommodations, but later presented guests with FEMA disaster relief tents, food shortages and no musical acts.
The festival’s founder, Billy McFarland, initially raised $26 million for the festival, using most of the funds to pay musical acts that didn’t show up and launch the social media campaign that Jenner participated in. McFarland pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges in March 2018 and was sentenced to six years in prison. He’s also been ordered to pay restitution of the $26 million he raised. — LAYLA ILCHI to provide forgivable relief to designers of color, who are pivoting their businesses and need funding to scale up. Established in 2007 by Brandice Daniel, Harlem’s Front Row supports young talent and offers a platform for underrepresented African American and Latino designers.
Daniel said, “I’m incredibly inspired by the resilience of designers, who are making bold pivots in their businesses. As a fashion community, we have an opportunity to help scale the businesses of designers who are thriving even in the middle of a pandemic.”
— ROSEMARY FEITELBERG