Abercrombie & Fitch to launch on Alibaba’s TMall

Abercrombie & Fitch, the struggling US apparel brand, is set to launch on Alibaba Group’s Tmall, China’s largest consumer platform for brands and retailers.

Abercrombie & Fitch have seen success in China, operating ten physical stores as well as a recent flagship store opening in Hong Kong’s Harbour City. The brand also have a local website, abercrombie.cn. The US apparel retailer will launch its full offering of Abercrombie & Fitch and abercrombie kids products on Tmall, on July 26.

Catering for a wider audience, who do not have access to a physical store, Abercrombie & Fitch joins sister brand Hollister, who launched on Tmall in 2014. “Building on our Hollister brand's successful partnership with the leader in China's online retail space, we are excited to bring our A&F brand experience to the broader Chinese market, beyond the reach of our physical stores through Tmall," said Fran Horowitz, Chief Executive Officer of Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

Since reevaluating their target market to consumers in their twenties who shop digitally, Abercrombie & Fitch currently aligns better with Tmall demographics; 75 percent of which are under the age of 35 and 80 percent of sales take place on mobile devices.

Tmall supplies brands with innovative marketing tools such as live-streaming, helping to provide consumers with a personalised and interactive shopping experience. “Abercrombie is focused on delivering both an engaging and seamless experience for its customers, whenever, wherever, and however they choose to shop,” the brand noted in a press statement. The brand are also planning to provide additional omni-channel capabilities to consumers through Tmall.

"We are excited to welcome Abercrombie & Fitch to the Tmall platform," said Jessica Liu, President of Tmall Fashion, Alibaba Group. "Abercrombie is an iconic global brand that consumers, both on our platform and in China, have sought out for some time. We look forward to connecting our consumer base to the brand and working with Abercrombie & Fitch to further its international growth."

Photo courtesy of Abercrombie & Fitch, website