Following the digital footprint of rivals Christian Dior, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, the French luxury powerhouse Givenchy has officially launched its online WeChat boutique on May 15.

According to a public statement by the brand, the new WeChat boutique store was created as an extension of Givenchy’s premium offline service, to offer a more convenient yet immersive shopping experience for the Chinese luxury consumers. Designed by Creative Director Clare Waight Keller, the online store collection takes orders from its followers directly on the app itself. Besides pieces from ready-to-wear apparel and leather goods to accessories, users can also access exclusive, limited-edition collections.

Exceptional attention is given to details including web design, photo selections, and the presentation of product information and brand history, all of which work together to form a seamless online-to-offline connection for the shoppers.

Last year Valentine’s Day, Givenchy co-designed the Mini Horizon handbag with Mr.Bags, that was made exclusive for Mr.Bags’ followers.

With almost a billion monthly active users, WeChat is now a marketing necessity to connect with Chinese consumers. A new report issued by digital marketing agency reveals the power of WeChat in driving online consumption in traditional sectors. Shopping, food, and travel increased exponentially in 2017, up 22.2 percent to 333.9 billion RMB (more than RM 208billion).

“Luxury goods mega-brands have been adopting WeChat as an e-commerce platform,” wrote Luca Solca, luxury goods analyst of Exane BNP Paribas”.

In the investor’s note, Solca also remarked how almost all leather goods mega-brands – including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, and Burberry – have launched an official e-commerce store in the past year.

Givenchy debuted its new Duetto handbag collection on gogoboi’s WeChat store last summer.

Before the launch of the WeChat store, Givenchy tested out sentiment in their consumer base through collaborations with the country’s top-tier fashion KOLs – gogoboi and Mr.Bags. The success of both collaborations have proved the brand’s popularity among Chinese shoppers, with all 80 pieces in the Mr.Bags collection reserved in 12 minutes and the entire collection on gogoboi’s WeChat store wiped out in 72 hours.

Just some time back, luxury brands were still cautious of venturing into e-commerce sales, fearing brand dilution. Now, brands are more eager to join the WeChat platform to harness its immense selling power. However, it will still remain a real challenge to strike a balance between online sales and luxury exclusivity, which we will have to observe and see how these digital efforts unfolds.

Connect with Givenchy’s WeChat boutique here.