L2 Report Identifies Burberry, Cartier, and Coach to have the highest Digital Competence of Luxury Brands Operating in China

NEW YORK, May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital benchmarking firm L2 Inc. releases its annual L2 Digital IQ Index China: Luxury 2017.

The L2 report benchmarks the digital performance of 89 Luxury Fashion and Watches & Jewelry brands operating in China. The report focuses on key digital strategies and best practices for brands to succeed with Chinese consumers both within China and abroad. L2's Digital IQ Methodology examines a brand's strengths and weaknesses across Site and E-Commerce, Digital Marketing, Social, and Mobile, with Burberry, Cartier, and Coach topping the ranking.

"Digital investments are crucial for Luxury brands to capitalize on the consumption trends of Chinese consumers at home and abroad," explained Danielle Bailey, Head of APAC Research at L2. "Looking to capitalize on the return to growth in the domestic market and casting aside fears of losing prestige, Luxury brands have accelerated e-commerce including DTC and WeChat commerce, social media campaigns boosted through paid promotion, and partnerships with Chinese influencers."

Key findings from L2's report include:

E-Commerce Continues to Rise: Ninety-one percent of Index Fashion brands and 60 percent of Index Watches & Jewelry brands offer some form of e-commerce. Led by Watches & Jewelry brands, 10 percent of Luxury brands are now experimenting with WeChat commerce as an alternative form of DTC e-commerce, up from 3 percent in 2016. Alternatively, Luxury brands remain wary of Alibaba's Tmall, as just 3 brands (Tag Heuer, Pandora, and Armani Jeans) have launched official storefronts since Coach's September 2016 departure.

The Price Gap Persists: Sixty-five percent of Luxury Fashion products are more than 15 percent more expensive in China versus the U.S., whereas 20 percent of accessible Luxury Fashion brands' prices are between 46 and 100 percent more expensive in China than the U.S. Thirty-one percent of all Luxury Fashion brands are priced between 46 and 100 percent higher in China than the UK, ensuring Chinese demand for overseas purchases will continue. However, brands continue to digitally underserve the traveling consumer.

The KOL and Celebrity Effect: Posts made on WeChat by Chinese key opinion leaders that mention Index Luxury brands receive an average of 4x the views and nearly 8x the engagement than those of a brand's own posts. Likewise, Watches & Jewelry brands see upwards of 90 percent of their total engagement on Weibo coming from posts featuring celebrity ambassadors. The report features platforms and e-tailers including but not limited to WeChat, Weibo, Youku, Miaopai, JD.com, Tmall, Farfetch, Yoox, Secoo, Xiu.com, and Mei.com.

To access a complete media-only copy of L2's Digital IQ Index China: 2017, contact [email protected]

About L2
L2 benchmarks the digital performance of over 2,200 brands across 12 industries globally. The L2 Digital IQ Index is the global standard for measuring digital competence. We analyze 1,250 data points to provide brands with actionable, data driven insights on their digital performance.

SOURCE L2

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