So, 55Haitao is China’s largest forum and shopping guide for Chinese cross-border shoppers. Founded by Alan Gu after the success of DealAm.com, 55Haitao.com creates and publishes unique Chinese content in their blog feed at 55Haitao.com, in a forum with more than 20,000 user-generated posts daily, and weekly to Wechat subscribers. With 90% of its traffic originating from China, 55Haitao helps retailers worldwide reach a Chinese audience easily.
Now 55Haitao.com attracts more luxury brands thanks to social media content and over 100,000 new followers each month. Selfridge’s and Farfetch recently partnered with the cross-border shopping guide to expand their presence in China, the world’s largest ecommerce market.
55Haitao.com
Selfridge’s and Farfetch, two British brands, join other high-end retailers active on 55Haitao.com including MyTheresa, Stuart Weitzman, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, and Michael Kors. “It’s easy to test the China opportunity. Brands don’t need to change any existing infrastructure on their end,” says Alan Gu, founder and CEO of 55Haitao.com.
55Haitao.com publishes localized content for luxury brands through Wechat and their forum. With Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all blocked in China, Wechat is one of the only options. It dominates usage in first, second, and third-tier cities. 55Haitao.com’s accounts see more than 25,000 new followers each week as posts are shared organically.
55Haitao.com uses social content to educate its followers. They give recommendations and show users how to purchase on a retailer’s English language website. “We’ve perfected a formula for creative and interesting content, which we started at DealAm.com,” says Gu. DealAm is 55Haitao.com’s sister site for Chinese living in the US. Together 55Haitao and DealAm have amassed more than 2 million active followers on Chinese language social networks. More luxury brands are expected to follow Selfridge’s and Farfetch to tap into a whole new audience without much risk.