A partnership between Tmall Global, an extension of Alibaba’s B2C operation, and New York-based retail and consignment store Stadium Goods is set to give Chinese consumers access to popular and hard-to-find sneakers in the country.
“We believe together, Tmall Global and Stadium Goods will offer sneaker enthusiasts throughout China the most premium level of customer experience and authenticity for the Chinese consumer.” John McPheters, Stadium Goods co-founder and CEO.
With the growing popularity of professional basketball and the rising interest in fitness among the emerging middle class, more Chinese consumers are now spending on sportswear.
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“People estimate that [the sneaker resale market] is a billion dollar business,” McPheters said. “In my mind, all those estimates are really based around the United States alone… and the majority of that is online transactions.”
“If you think about China, the e-commerce market is almost double the size of the U.S… So I think it could be a $1 billion business in China,” he added.
The store said it has placed 1,500 of their total 5,000 styles of sneakers on Tmall, with prices that reach RMB 2,000 (about $300 US dollars, before tax and shipping).
Based on the adjusted China parcel tax policy for cross border e-commerce, Chinese consumers will payan additional 30 percent tax when they buy sports goods at more than RMB 2,000 from non-Chinese sellers. It usually takes two weeks to ship sneakers to China, with the shipping of RMB 60 ($9).
(Source: Yibada)