For the 4th consecutive year, Tmall Luxury is partnering with Geneva’s watch exhibition to bridge the gap between Europe and China for luxury shoppers.
Tmall launched sales of the watches on March 27 – the same day as the opening of this year’s Watches and Wonders exhibition in Geneva. The annual event was attended by representatives from 49 different elite watchmakers, including Rolex, Cartier, and Patek Philippe, as well as high-profile watch brand ambassadors like Roger Federer.
Tmall’s web 3.0 watch shopping experience, called “Luxury Cloud Watch Exhibition”, enabled users to seamlessly compare the latest timepieces unveiled at the fair in Geneva and examine them from all angles. New pieces drawing attention both at the exhibition and on Tmall’s program include the Carrera date watch by TAG Heuer and the Pilot Automatic by Zenith. Tmall Luxury’s very own “digital curator” Timothy also featured as part of the online event. Three-dimensional browsing experiences have become a major aspect of Tmall’s promotional techniques alongside sales of digital collectibles and appearances from virtual humans.
The “Luxury Cloud Watch Exhibition” will also be of benefit to Swiss watchmakers, who are reportedly banking on the Chinese market to brace against financial turbulence in Europe. An analyst at the investment group Vonobel expressed confidence in the return of the Chinese luxury market to normal levels of demand, due to “”the level of savings the Chinese had set aside during the health restrictions”.
The Watches and Wonders exhibition in Geneva drew considerable buzz on China’s microblogging site Weibo, where an accompanying hashtag for the event racked up 250 million views. Multiple Chinese celebrities including athlete Eileen Gu, rapper Lay Zhang, actress Zhou Dongyu, and popstar Cai Xukun were in attendance as brand ambassadors for various watchmakers, driving Chinese netizens’ engagement online. At the Paris and Milan fashion shows this year, Chinese stars reportedly generated over 49 million USD in earned media value across Weibo and Instagram, making events like Geneva’s Watches and Wonders a lucrative opportunity.
