China is the world’s largest e-commerce market with sales totalling US$2 trillion a year.
In 2021, the country is expected to become the biggest retail market in the world with revenues of US$5.8 trillion.
The Chinese beauty market is worth US$60 billion and remains very lucrative for multinationals and overseas indie brands alike.
Both Chinese online titans, Alibaba and JD.com, traded strongly throughout China’s COVID-19 lockdown.
During the first quarter to March 31, JD.com has reported that revenues soared 20.7 per cent to RMB 146.2 billion (AUD$31.33 billion).
Alibaba’s Tmall Global is the largest cross-border B2C e-commerce platform in China, helping to connect more than 25,000 brands from 92 countries, including Australia, to more than 700 million Chinese consumers across its platforms.
Beauty and personal care are two of the leading categories on Tmall Global, which has spring-boarded indie brands such as Fenty Beauty and Miranda Kerr’s Kora Organics onto the Chinese beauty radar.
Sephora has been operating in China for 15 years.
But the world’s largest specialist beauty chain has announced the launch of a Tmall Global flagship store.
More than 600 products from 25 overseas beauty brands will be on offer, including Dermalogica, Sunday Riley and Natasha Denona, the US cult brand famed for its eyeshadow palettes.