Toplife, the luxury e-commerce platform launched by Chinese online giant JD.com in 2017, is set to merge with Farfetch China, as part of a new partnership agreement between the two companies. In addition, products from over 3,000 luxury brands will be made available for JD.com’s 300 million app users, thanks to Farfetch’s network of 1,000 brand and boutique partners.
With these moves, the duo aims to build “the premier luxury gateway to China”, according to a joint statement. They are also probably looking to weaken Alibaba’s Luxury Pavillion page under Tmall.
Farfetch and JD.com are close partners since 2017, when the British ecommerce company entered the Chinese market by leveraging JD.com’s logistics, technology and marketing capabilities in the country. At the time, JD.com became one of Farfetch’s largest stakeholders, investing US$397m in the company and adding its founder and CEO, Richard Liu, to Farfetch’s advisory board.