Retail in Asia

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‘New Arrival’ brings brick-and-mortar to China’s mobile shoppers

There are fashion apps that bring overseas independent designers to the hands of shoppers based in China, and then there is “New Arrival.” It’s the app that has the potential to lure Chinese shoppers abroad off the beaten track into lesser-known boutiques.

The e-commerce app, which launched its latest version for the iPhone last month, serves as a platform and guide for those brick-and-mortar stores Chinese shoppers might otherwise miss in their travels.

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To achieve this, founder Howell Hu separated the app into two parts. One part focuses on “new arrivals” from brick-and-mortar stores, and allows users to browse products with a popular Tinder-inspired swiping feature.

From there, they can either get more information about the store it’s in or simply arrange to make the purchase directly on the app using Alipay. Users can also browse using a navigation system that lets them shop by category if they prefer not to use the swiping feature.

But to get the real brick-and-mortar experience, users can tour shops by city. The app includes a “nearby” function so that travellers can find stores on-the-go, or they can simply search by city alphabetically. Each store within a city features a biography and an address, which pulls it open in a separate map or allows the user to connect to their preferred map service for directions.

Users can browse by most popular cities, which include Beijing, Shanghai, New York, Paris, and Hong Kong. Some stores feature products that can be purchased using the app, while others have yet to feature any products, only photos of the shop. Most of the cities themselves also feature a short blog post that users are able to share on social media.

By: Jessica Rapp

(Source: Jing Daily)