IWC opens its official online store on WeChat
In China, the average growth class is willing to buy many products online. With more than 630 million people online in China, the e-commerce market is exploding. Many brands have to face the facts: the brand must also live in the digital era.
The luxury Swiss brand IWC watches took a step in the growing digital market: IWC opens its online store on the WeChat platform. Users can visit the online store by scanning the QR code displayed in the IWC stores or on the IWC website.
According to IWC, We Chat has helped the brand to communicate with customers, customer loyalty at the same time. Moreover, it is a useful way for consumers living far from big cities and who do not have physical access to the IWC stores can still make their purchases directly on the application.
The online store on WeChat is the only way through which IWC authorized to sell online in China. IWC has no online store on other platforms such as Alibaba or Tmall.
According to Zhouping Zhang, Senior Analyst at E-Commerce Research Center in China “Luxury brands have realized that e-Commerce is a factor to increase sales. WeChat is a powerful tool for brands because the application has many features to interact more than a normal website or application of the brand. “
Wechat in China
WeChat is the most popular application in China, allowing users to stay connected with their friends but it is more than a simple application. WeChat has many features including its online portfolio which then allows to shop online, book a plane ticket, reserve a table at a restaurant, or call a taxi and it’s all directly from the app. More than 400 million users use what is called “WeChat Wallet” to buy products or make money transfers.
In 2015, the number of active users totaled 697 million, increasing 39% compared to 2014 by Tencent Holdings Ltd which group WeChat.
Many brands recognize the magnitude of WeChat and its user base makes the application a perfect space for effective marketing campaigns. More than 8 million companies have an official account WeChat and use it to stay connected with the Chinese consumers.
More and more applications are associated with WeChat (85,000 applications under the Tencent Group). For example, a user WeChat wearing a smart bracelet can upload their fitness data on WeChat and watch how many steps she has walked in one day and can compare with his friends.
WeChat & e-Commerce services
To compete with the giant Taobao, a popular platform e-Commerce in China and now in the world. WeChat is going to offer e-commerce services for brands and marketers to start their business on its application, for example by providing order management. Thus, companies or individuals can use the many features available to them to build their online store on WeChat and sell their products to their subscribers. According to WeChat, in 2015 Chinese traders have generated $ 42 million in sales through the WeChat application.
Read more about Wechat e-commerce: Wechat Ecommerce Guide