LUXURY RANKING 2020 EDITION INTRODUCTION 2021 – Chatlabs’ Wechat Luxury Ranking

WECHAT LUXURY RANKING 2020 EDITION INTRODUCTION 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

WeChat’s Potential for Luxury Fashion WeChat Mini Program Engagement, Year-on-Year Increase 2019 to 2020 With one billion daily active And while the 2020 global users, WeChat functions as a luxury market shrank by 23 ”super app,” an online hub for percent compared to last year, virtually all of its users’ daily the Chinese luxury market grew online activities, from calling a by 48 percent. 400 +25 +67% cab and video chats with friends to transferring money and In The State of Fashion 2021 Million Daily Average Number of Average Transaction Active Users MPs Used per User Value per User booking holidays. The release of report, Business of Fashion and the WeChat Mini Program (MP) McKinsey & Company predicted in 2017 ushered in the that fashion sales in China will revolutionary capability to sell on make a full rebound by the ﬁrst mini apps within WeChat quarter of 2021 at the latest, with without linking to an outside Europe and the US recovering on WeChat Mini Program Transactions Value platform. a much slower timeline. In RMB Million, Approximate Value Thiscombined with the WeChat MPs brought in expanding capabilities of the transactions of $123.19 billion in WeChat ecosystem for e- 2020 , and August 2020 saw a commerce, means that fashion year-on-year increase in GMV of luxury brands have a great 115 percent. Due to its growth in opportunity to harness the 100% popularity, WeChat has become platform for growth. 1600 essential to global luxury brands. 2.”Go mini or go home: China’s Tencent pushes for e-commerce breakthrough on WeChat via in- app programs,” South China Morning Post, 18 September 2020, scmp.com. 800 1. WeChat Bulletin, https://mp.weixin.qq.com/ 3. China’s Unstoppable 2020 Luxury Market, s/mOLOyx5N-Ov69g0FkSHO2Q, 19 January Joint Report by Tmall Luxury and Bain & 2021. Company, December 16, 2020 2019 2020 2 DIMENSIONS 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

The Flywheel

The WeChat ﬂywheel covers all key areas that drive overall growth for your business. ADVOCATES UNKNOWN Each element is as important as the other and are considered the driving forces MARKETING behind the ‘wheel’ spinning into business growth. The ﬂywheel takes people from complete strangers to becoming brand advocates, thus creating even more demand in the market. SERVICE GROWTH

In our assessment of WeChat performance, we examined nine sub-dimensions within each of the three key ﬂywheel dimensions. With a total of 32 features evaluated, SALES we were able to produce a well- rounded picture of how fully brands were taking advantage of the WeChat ecosystem to CLIENTS PROSPECTS drive growth.

3 DIMENSIONS 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

MARKETING SALES SERVICE

Search: Product Presentation: Chatbot : ID Optimization, Verification and Product Videos, AR/VR Features, Product Chatbot Recognizes CRM Profile or Asks Trademark, WeChat QR Code on Web Descriptions for Information, AI Chatbot Recommends Site, LBS Locator, Mini Program Links in Topics With Automated Answers Official Account, Optimization of E- Commerce Store, Search Capabilities in E- Commerce Store, Brand Zone

48-Hour Journey: Checkout: Live Support:

User Name in Welcome Message, Push Consistent Access to Customer Service, Oﬀers Live Support, Immediate Response, Binding or Loyalty Program, Push E- Use WeChat API, Show Shipping and Name of Assistant in Chat Commerce, Push Promotions, Call to Return Information on Product Page Action Messages

Personalization: Online-to-Oﬄine: Friendliness of Use: Loyalty or Membership Program, Click-and-Collect, Allows Online Booking Customer Name in Message, Customer Consistent Access to Customer Service of In-Store Appointment Service Mini Program, Ends Chat With Rating Request or Farewell Statement

4 TERMS AND TOPICS 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

MARKETING SALES SERVICE

Official Account (OA) – Serves as a 48-Hour Journey – When a new Product Presentation – WeChat Customer Service Options – focal point for a brand to gather user starts following a brand’s OA, allows for a wide variety of These include autoresponders, followers, send them content, push the account can send an unlimited browsing features, from AI chatbots, and live support promotions, offer customer service, number of messages in the first 48 categories and search bars to chats. These can be conducted and redirect to e-commerce. hours (hence, the “48-Hour AR/VR presentation of in a dedicated Service Session Journey”). products. chat or within the OA chat. Mini Program (MP) – A brand’s own mini app within the WeChat app. The responses and engagement Checkout – Brands can utilize Friendliness of Use – Options with this series of messages help the WeChat’s API to reduce for personalization abound, Brand Zone – a styled and brand tag the user and drive them to checkout time to 20 seconds. from including the client’s name controlled display to be shown as take immediate action such as in the customer service chat to the first search result for a brand’s making a purchase or joining a Online-to-Offline – As offering a support agent’s name and self-defined SEO terms. loyalty program. customers prefer to visit brick- WeChat Work contact for more and-mortar stores if possible, congruous service. Depending on which class of Brand these appointment features are Zone is selected or allowed (a brand a great way to connect with must meet certain qualifications to clients in WeChat. access higher classes), it can easily fill a user’s screen and dominate search results. It provides a one- stop-space, with links to the brand’s OA, MP, current promotions, customer service, and recently published content.

5 RANKING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

# BRAND SCORE # BRAND SCORE

1 Pandora 23 10 Ermenegildo Zegna 18

2 Chow Sang Sang 22.6 11 Fred 17.9

3 Estée Lauder 20.5 12 Celine 17.6

4 Longines 19 13 Michael Kors 17.6

5 Lancôme 18.8 14 Louis Vuitton 17.4

6 Gucci 18.5 15 Bvlgari 17.3

7 Berluti 18.3 16 DeBeers 16.8

8 Calvin Klein 18.2 17 Givenchy 16.7

9 Ralph Lauren 18 18 Coach 16.5

ELITE 20 ADVANCED 16-20 INTERMEDIATE 12-15 ELEMENTARY 4-11 NOVICE <4

Employing all WeChat Employing all WeChat Applying diverse tools to Using several of WeChat’s Under utilizing WeChat. has to oﬀer shoppers has to oﬀer shoppers create a functional if capabilities to create a and exceeding users’ and exceeding users’ sometimes suboptimal somewhat functional but expectations. expectations. experience. incongruous experience.

6 RANKING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

# BRAND SCORE # BRAND SCORE

19 Dunhill 16.5 27 A. Lange & Söhne 15.8

20 Yves Saint Laurent 16.4 29 Hermès 15.6

21 Tommy Hilﬁger 16 30 Hublot 15.5

22 Tissot 16 31 Dolce & Gabbana 15.4

23 Cartier 15.9 31 Breitling 15.3

23 Loewe 15.9 33 Clarins 15.3

23 Rimowa 15.9 33 Valentino 15.1

23 Loro Piana 15.9 35 Shiseido 15

27 Jimmy Choo 15.8 35 Chaumet 15

ELITE 20 ADVANCED 16-20 INTERMEDIATE 12-15 ELEMENTARY 4-11 NOVICE <4

7 RANKING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

# BRAND SCORE # BRAND SCORE

37 Chanel 14.9 46 IWC 13.1

38 Dior 14.6 47 Chloé 13

39 Armani 14.3 47 Prada 13

40 Chow Tai Fook 14.2 47 Piaget 13

40 Swarovski 14.2 50 Balenciaga 12.9

42 Miu Miu 13.8 51 Alexander McQueen 12.8

43 Salvatore Ferragamo 13.6 52 Hugo Boss 12.5

44 Boucheron 13.5 52 Versace 12.5

45 Stella McCartney 13.2 54 DKNY 12.3

ELITE 20 ADVANCED 16-20 INTERMEDIATE 12-15 ELEMENTARY 4-11 NOVICE <4

8 RANKING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

# BRAND SCORE # BRAND SCORE

55 Jaeger-LeCoultre 12.1 64 Pomellato 10.8

56 Tiﬀany & Co. 12 65 Patou 9.8

57 Cha Ling 11.8 66 Van Cleef and Arpels 9.6

58 Burberry 11.3 67 Vacheron Constantin 9.5

58 Moncler 11.3 68 Bottega Veneta 9.4

58 Longchamp 11.3 69 Fendi 9.3

61 Tag Heuer 11 70 Ted Baker 9

62 Guerlain 10.9 71 Harry Winston 8.8

62 Zenith 10.9 72 Bremont 8.6

ELITE 20 ADVANCED 16-20 INTERMEDIATE 12-15 ELEMENTARY 4-11 NOVICE <4

9 RANKING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

# BRAND SCORE # BRAND SCORE

73 Oﬀ-White 8.4 82 Messika 6.3

74 Marc Jacobs 8.2 83 Tom Ford 5.8

75 Emilio Pucci 7.7 83 Vera Wang 5.8

76 Kenzo 6.9 85 Omega 5.2

77 Chopard 6.8 86 Fenty 5

77 Panerai 6.8 86 Roger Dubuis 5

79 Mulberry 6.6 88 Patek Philippe 4.9

79 Baume & Mercier 6.6 89 Issey Miyake 4.8

79 Graﬀ 6.6 89 Vashi 4.8

ELITE 20 ADVANCED 16-20 INTERMEDIATE 12-15 ELEMENTARY 4-11 NOVICE <4

10 RANKING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

# BRAND SCORE # BRAND SCORE

91 Rolex 4.3 99 Purdey 0

92 Buccellati 4.1 *We scored brands between November 2020 and January 2021. Some brands may have added or removed features that 93 Moschino 3.6 are not reﬂected in this score. Shiseido’s Mini Program was

94 Nicholas Kirkwood 3.5 under construction when we tried to access it and did not become available before publishing this report, so its score is 95 Moynat 2.7 lower than would otherwise be expected. Additionally, some brands that do not have a WeChat Oﬃcial Account were still 96 Alaïa 1 able to obtain points because their oﬃcial website appeared in our search using WeChat Discovery. However, other brands’ 96 Paul Smith 1 websites did not even appear in this search, which is why they 98 Jean-Paul Gaultier 0.7 have zero points.

99 Peter Millar 0

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11 INDUSTRY AVERAGE 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

We ranked 100 luxury brands to see how they fared on WeChat. Brands were scored across three major dimensions, Marketing, Sales, and Service, with three sub-dimensions each.

Friendliness 48-Hour Journey of Use AVG 11.7

Live Personalization Support

Industry Average

Top 20

Chatbot Product Presentation

Online-to-Oﬄine Checkout

The Average score is out of 30 total possible points. The Industry Average takes into account all 100 surveyed brands, while the Top 20% is an average of the top 20% of scores in every sub-dimension.

12 MARKETING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Average Marketing Score —— 4.9/10 Performance in Marketing Sub-Dimensions

2020 N=100

Shopping in WeChat usually begins with a user search yielding a Brand Zone, Official Account, and Mini Program. Brands should take full advantage of the several avenues offered by WeChat, like the 48-Hour Journey, the Official Account menu bar, and VIP service centers, to turn prospects into clients.

Excellent One underutilized element was the 48-Hour Average Journey. For example, only 12 percent of our surveyed brands sent the recommended four CTA Poor messages to engage new users. Some brands also could have made better use of Oﬃcial Account menu bars, with 81 percent of accounts having either zero or only one link to a Mini Program, with Sub- an average of 3.2 links (compare this to an Dimension average of 5.2 links in the OA menus of the overall Average top-ten luxury brands). Search 48-H Journey Personalization Score 5.9 3.4 3.9

13 MARKETINGSEARCH 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer: Estée Lauder Inspiration from Chanel

Estée Lauder went beyond the basics of Brand Zone trademark veriﬁcation and an optimized 1. A brand-controlled and styled Brand WeChat ID. From the beginning of a Zone is the ﬁrst result in WeChat customer’s journey, they maximized Discover search. visibility in WeChat Discovery by

building out their Brand Zone. They also 2. Customer Service link.

took full advantage of their Oﬃcial

Account menu bar by linking to their 3. Featured article.

Mini Programs in eight places, ensuring

users would make the connection they 4. Direct links to Mini Program and

were looking for. Outside of WeChat, on Oﬃcial Account.

their oﬃcial website, Estée Lauder 5. Latest Articles section. prominently features a QR code for

users to follow their WeChat Oﬃcial

Account.

14 MARKETINGSEARCH 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Inspiration from Characteristics Hublot

When a user starts following CTA Messages an Oﬃcial Account, 1. Personalized with WeChat allows the account user’s name a 48-hour window in which 2. Personalized to to send unlimited messages user’s language. outside of the four-message

per month broadcast quota. 3. Links to e-commerce 14 percent of brands made Mini Program and customer service. full use of this opportunity

by directing users toward 4. Use of Mini Program useful resources and e- cards and article links.

commerce, as well as by 5. Invitation to chat customizing content directly in the Oﬃcial according to user data. Account feed.

15 MARKETINGPERSONALIZATION 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Inspiration from Characteristics Stella McCartney

Oﬀering VIP perks and easy VIP Center access to customer service 1. Promotes VIP are expected both by the program in 48-Hour average WeChat user and Journey.

by luxury clients especially. 2. PQuick access to Top performers used VIP center from OA menu bar. features such as ﬂoating

chat bubbles and menu bar 3. Personalized digital VIP cards. access to oﬀer live support

and VIP membership 4. Users can easily track management. Their Mini their VIP status and oﬀers, along with Programs also made access shipping, payments, to VIP centers easy to ﬁnd returns, and customer and navigate. service conversations.

16 MARKETINGPERSONALIZATION 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Lancôme and Pandora Lancôme takes the 48-Hour Journey to sample products, and a customer the next level by promoting a monthly service chat. spa treatment for users that bind their account. Pandora’s VIP beneﬁts are well- advertised and comprehensive: they Within their e-commerce Mini Program, include a welcome gift, special access Lancôme provides continuous access to promotions, birthday gifts, and to several customer-centric services, jewelry maintenance. Their VIP center including entrance to private WeChat also allows users to track their rewards groups, a “Sampling Hub” that allows and access a digital VIP card. shoppers to select and

Features

1. Floating bubbles in e-commerce MP linking to customer-focused services.

2. QR code to join special WeChat groups.

3. Personalized product sampling.

4. Complementary spa treatment for users who bind their account.

5. Extensive VIP suite.

6. Visual rewards tracking.

17 MARKETING 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Average Sales Score —— 3.8/10 Performance in Sales Sub-Dimensions

2020 N=100

WeChat oﬀers several avenues for brands to create an appealing shopping experience, from AR/VR browsing to easily accessible customer service.

One notably underused component was 3D and AR/VR product viewing. Though some brands offered these with flying colors (see Pomellato on Excellent page 22), overall it was only found in eight Average percent of the brands we reviewed. Poor Although China has quickly returned to pre- pandemic luxury shopping levels, the increased comfort with online-shopping gained during earlier store closures is expected to have a lasting Sub- effect on consumer habits. Brands therefore have Dimension significant room to stand out above the rest by Average harnessing these WeChat features. Product Checkout Online-to-Offline Score 3.4 5.1 2.5

18 SALES: PRODUCT 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Inspiration from Characteristics Dior

Several brands used their 3D Product Presentation WeChat Oﬃcial Accounts

and Mini Programs to 1. Shoppers can see which products have deliver virtual experiences. the 3D feature while Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, browsing. and Coach each created 2. Product pages allow extensive virtual users to either swipe environments for their users through photos or to explore and even shop turn the product 360°. within. Other brands, like

Pandora (in their CNY line) 3. Users can also select and Dior embedded 3D the 3D option on the product page to product viewing within their explore the product e-commerce Mini Programs. from all sides.

19 SALES: CHECKOUT 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Inspiration from Characteristics Salvatore Ferragamo

Shopping within WeChat is Access to Information and Service incredibly convenient – APIs

reduce checkout times to 1. Beyond basic specifications, under a minute, making Salvatore them a must-have for e- Ferragamo’s product commerce. Top performing pages included brands’ product pages detailed descriptions of product design made logistical information and construction. easy to find and offered 2. Each product page customer service on every also included page so that accessing shipping and return information. further support was intuitive 3. A live, in-WeChat for shoppers. customer service chat is always just one click away.

20 SALES: ONLINE-TO-OFFLINE 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Characteristics Inspiration from Graﬀ

While Chinese consumers are becoming Appointment Booking increasingly comfortable making 1. WeChat APIs to narrow down store purchases online following 2020’s shut- locations. downs, luxury shoppers still show

preference for some in-store interaction. 2. The appointment booking service Therefore, top brands oﬀered both functions for thirteen diﬀerent appointment booking and click-and- countries, making it useful for Chinese travelers. collect services from their WeChat

Oﬃcial Accounts or Mini Programs. 3. Users can specify which kind of While these services are often restricted jewelry or watches they’re to Mainland China, some brands, like interested in for their appointment.

Graﬀ, have expanded them to several

global locations to serve travelling

Chinese customers.

21 SALES INNOVATOR 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Pomellato Pomellato’s virtual try-on experience allows users to see themselves wearing one or more of their rings. The feature ”places” a ring on the user’s hand and suggests other rings and combinations to try on.

What is especially notable about Pomellato’s feature is its tight integration with the e-commerce Mini Program. Users can access virtual try- on from product pages and vice versa.

Shoppers also get an easily sharable WeChat card, encouraging social shopping.

Features

1. Badges indicating which rings use the VR feature.

2. Users can select diﬀerent rings or even suggested combinations.

3. Sharable WeChat cards with a QR code that connects to the virtual try-on

22 SERVICE 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Average Service Score —— 3/10 Performance in Service Sub-Dimensions

2020 N=100

Chinese consumers prefer to stay within WeChat for customer service, leaving behind more traditional service channels like phone lines and email.

Unsurprisingly then, 66 percent of brands offered live support within WeChat. Yet of those, there was a wide spread in response time: about one- Excellent third offered quick response times, but 15 percent Average took over 12 hours to respond. Additionally, only 39 percent of brands offered any level of Poor personalization in the service chat.

With users focusing their communication on WeChat, brands have a huge opportunity to Sub- distinguish their service and turn clients into Dimension advocates. Average Chatbot Live Support Friendliness of Use Score 1.4 4.6 2.6

23 SERVICE: CHATBOT 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Inspiration from Characteristics Chow Sang Sang

13 percent of surveyed AI Chatbots

brands oﬀered some form 1. Each chatbot is given of a chatbot feature, a persona.

whether a simple 2. The customer service autoresponder or a full AI chatbot has clickable replies, making it experience like Chow Sang much easier than Sang’s Promessa ring autoresponders that require typing. recommender. Rather than

customers searching the 3. The Promessa AI chatbot learns a user’s Oﬃcial Accounts for style through fun information, these chatbots questions. answered FAQs and solved 4. The Promessa basic issues when live chatbot recommends support was not available. several options and learns from shopper’s feedback.

24 SERVICE: LIVE SUPPORT 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Inspiration from Characteristics Bvlgari

24 percent of surveyed Personalized Live Support brands provided immediate

live support within WeChat, 1. Brand ambassador’s name in chat. and another 14 percent

replied in under 30 minutes. 2. Beyond answering the initial question, the support agent Top performing brands also asked what the provided the support shoppers is interested in. agent’s name in the chat to

create a more personal 3. Support agent provides their experience. WeChat Work contact information.

4. Requests feedback at the end of the chat.

25 SERVICE: FRIENDLINESS OF USE 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

Top Performer Inspiration from Characteristics Cartier

Top performers Accessible and Personalized Service personalized customer

service chats by including 1. Dedicated customer service chat sessions the customer’s name (or that can be easily asking their preferred name) accessed from users’ and asking for the main WeChat feed. customer’s preferred 2. Requests user’s name contact method. These and asks what their brands also created speciﬁc shopping interests are. Service Session chats that

users can easily find in the 3. Offers several Service Messages in their different methods of contact for future WeChat main feed. customer support.

26 SALES INNOVATOR 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

FRED FRED’s support exceeded expectations by making communication as seamless as possible. Additionally, the customer consultant made a point of personalizing communication and oﬀering extra options beyond what the customer had requested. After the conversation was closed, the customer was given an easy way to provide feedback.

Features

1. Begins with an autoresponder to answer FAQs and provide context for the agent.

2. The user can paste in the product they have questions about.

3. The consultant includes personal touches like emojis.

4. The user is supplied with a simple feedback form.

27 RECOMMENDATIONS 2021 – ChatLabs’ WeChat Luxury Ranking

GETTING STARTED TOP-NOTCH

Build a Mini Program store – launching ahead of Expand your MP repertoire to include special Establish presence in brands that still rely on outside e-commerce sites. promotional and holiday MPs. search results and leverage the Send at least four messages in the 48-Hour Journey, Enhance the 48-Hour Journey with personalization 48-Hour Journey. ensuring they include pushes for binding and e- and by following up the next day with engaging commerce. content.

Use WeChat APIs to provide a quick and easy Integrate user-generated content on product pages. Oﬀer engaging product checkout. interaction and easy check out. Build out your product descriptions, shipping and Promote clientele connection and enthusiasm with return policies, and product exploration tools like interactive promotions within your e-commerce MP. vidoes and AR/VR visualization.

Feature customer service on your Oﬃcial Account Build out your AI chatbot to recommend topics and Use stellar customer menu bar and prominently within your e-commerce answer FAQs. MP. service to transform your clients into advocates. Provide live support, with an automatic welcome Personalize conversations with both the client’s and message during oﬀ hours. the service agent’s name and CRM information.

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