Sephora extends its reach in e-commerce in China with JD.com

The global beauty retailer already has a Chinese version of its own website, but this deal will help it to reach more customers as JD.com is one of the leaders in e-commerce.

According to the president of Sephora Asia, Anne Veronique Bruel, the partnership is a global first for the retailer and will offer Jingding shoppers exclusive and new cosmetics. 

With over 1,200 items from more than 70 brands, the CEO of JD.com Shen Haoyu says that Sephora's store will be the largest on its' platform.

On hearing the news of the deal, analysts like 'MarketWatch' reckon things haven't been easy for the retailer since setting up its website in 2013, as its struggling to compete with other cosmetic retailers like Jumei.

Safer shopping?​

According to Sephora Asia president Bruel, another benefit of the partnership will be cracking down on counterfeiting, which accounts for up to 20 per cent of China's cosmetics market. 

JD.com claims that it has focused on creating a business model that helps to 'ensure authenticity' and that the combination of direct sales where it controls the sourcing process, to a limited number of sellers allows it to have greater quality oversight.

This didn't go unnoticed with the beauty retailer; "We’ve seen the effort by JD.com that they value authenticity," ​Sephora China e-commerce VP, Helen Zhou said in a recent interview with Fortune magazine.

Industry cracks down on fake goods...​

Online cosmetics retailer Jumei found itself in the spotlight last year after media reports claimed it was selling fake luxury goods in China.

Brands were copied and sold through the third party retailer included Armani, Hermes and Burberry, according to the investigative report carried out by China technology news provider tech.qq.com.

Jumei stated it had shut down the offending third party online store and removed all products from sale and that the company in question had been able to provide it with product authentication and customs certificates, which Jumei reported to be the key focus of an internal investigation into the shortcomings.

“We sincerely apologise to all customers who bought from the supplier and will provide non-conditional product return services,”​ Jumei said at the time.

When news of the report broke, JD.com and Jumei were first to react, with JD.com taking action to stop the sale off all products by the third party retailer with immediate effect.