Since launching its website in September 2012 to sell its products in China, Clarins has experienced high double-digit growth – exceeding its expectations.

According to Forrester Research, the brand’s online retail sales business in China is expected to grow from $169.4 billion in 2012 to $356.1 billion by 2016, surpassing U.S. e-commerce sales.

Online customer acquisition is also accelerating rapidly, with Clarins adding 5,000 to 10,000 new newsletter subscribers each month.

The Decision to Set Up the New Site

Clarins was already selling cosmetics in every country around the world through major department stores, specialty retail stores and spas; as well as online, via several country-specific commerce sites. Clarins’ products were available via popular Mainland China commerce sites including Taobao and T-Mall.

But, Clarins had a strong desire to establish a more official, direct connection with its customers that would provide it with direct control over pricing and brand presentation. With its enormous population of 1.4 billion and rapidly emerging middle class, China represents a major opportunity for any brand.

Julien Chiavassa, Clarins’ China e-commerce manager and head of digital strategy for the company’s Asia-Pacific region explains:

“Whether the websites we operate in different countries are for commerce or simply there for informational purposes, having our own website in each country where we have a subsidiary and official presence is mandatory. We want to control the way that we communicate the brand, and be consistent across different channels in terms of brand identity, channels and guidelines.”

Overcoming China’s Challenges

There were several challenges to overcome when Clarins set up its commerce site in 2012.

These included legal and regulatory challenges, particularly licensing requirements for operating a transacting site in China, as well as technology and infrastructure challenges, such as operating within the restrictions of the “Great Firewall of China.”

Another challenge was engaging consumers on China-specific social networks and search engines. “Many different social networks are banned in China, including Facebook and Twitter, and even Google is very hard to access from China,” says Chiavassa. “We had to rethink and localize a lot of different features on the global website to fit Chinese needs, including switching all international social networks to local social networks.”

To solve these issues, Clarins extended its global use of the Demandware platform, to address many of the technological challenges specific to China.