Luxury retailer launches online in China

Louis Vuitton is making a move to grab its share of the booming online shopping market in China.



The French fashion brand quietly debuted an e-commerce website that sells leather goods, small leather goods, shoes, accessories, watch and jewelry, luggage, and perfume. The site marks Louis Vuitton’s 11th e-commerce market since it launched its first site in France in 2005, according to CNBC.



The site will be available in 12 cities — Beijing, Shanghai, ChongQing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Haerbin and Wuhan. More cities will continue to be added, CNBC said.



Customers can use UnionPay, Alipay and WeChat to pay for orders, CNBC said.



The retailer is calling the site’s debut a soft launch since it is still in the testing stage. Once the retailer finishes trouble-shooting the platform, there will be an official announcement from the brand, according to Campaign Asia.



Louis Vuitton is among a growing list of retailers that are setting their sights on the lucrative Chinese marketplace. For example, Abercrombie & Fitch announced that it will start selling its namesake brand and Abercrombie kids line on Alibaba Group's Tmall website, starting on July 26. Tmall, which is China's largest consumer website for brands and retailers, has carried Abercrombie's Hollister brand since 2014.