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AliExpress bets on K-fashion, influencers to woo global shoppers
By Ko Dong-hwan
Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress is targeting Korean fashion enthusiasts as it begins recruiting social media influencers to serve as fitting models and promoters for its fashion items, the company said Monday.
According to the company, Celeb Shop is a new type of commerce project in which influencers curate and promote their favorite fashion items selected from the AliExpress wardrobe. All products are sourced directly from vendors in Seoul’s Dongdaemun area, a major hub for business-to-business trade in clothing and production materials.
AliExpress said Celeb Shop influencers will orchestrate sales on the platform by planning their own styling and modeling their selected pieces. The company, in collaboration with its Korean vendor partners, will handle fulfillment and delivery of all items ordered through Celeb Shop.
The company said Celeb Shop targets consumers from teenagers to those in their 30s, believing their frequent exposure to YouTube, Instagram and other social network platforms has familiarized them with online influencers.
The company said it has begun searching for Korean influencers for Celeb Shop, which opens its beta test platform next month.
Celeb Shop, according to AliExpress, will empower the influencers’ popularity and brand power across countries where the platform will operate, including the United States, Japan, France and Spain.
The company said Celeb Shop offers customers "celeb pick shopping," allowing them to emulate their influencers’ fashion styles item-by-item.
“Celeb Shop is a new way for K-fashion to expand worldwide by mixing SNS (social media) content and e-commerce. The new platform will open simultaneously to different countries, allowing influencers to make themselves known to the world. Shoppers, meanwhile, can get their hands on the items their influencers selected and tried on themselves," its official said.
AliExpress, a subsidiary of Alibaba International Digital Commerce, launched its Korean operations in 2018 and has since been expanding its services to better cater to the local market. The platform currently operates in 16 languages.