Thursday, 8 October 2020

Louis Vuitton Joins Other Brands in Selling Products via Line Chat App

Louis Vuitton Joins Other Brands in Selling Products via Line Chat App

G20 interviews

Asharq Al-Awsat
FILE PHOTO: The logo of free messaging app Line is pictured on a smartphone in this photo illustration taken in Tokyo, Japan September 23, 2014. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo

Luxury fashion and auto brands in Thailand have turned to selling their products on Japanese chat app Line amid the coronavirus pandemic, tapping the country’s growing appetite for social commerce, a top executive said on Thursday. Brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Volvo were among those that opened official accounts on the messaging app, which outranks Facebook’s WhatsApp and Rakuten’s Viber in Thailand, aiming to connect with users during a coronavirus lockdown. “The luxury category was forced to adapt because their stores were closed,” Line Thailand chief commercial officer, Norasit Sitivechvichit, told Reuters. Thailand earlier this year imposed a nationwide curfew and closed malls for nearly two months to contain infections. “During the pandemic, sellers became very active,” Norasit said, adding that others sold cosmetics and fast-moving consumer goods. Line, which charges sellers for sending messages and live streaming, said its monthly active users in Thailand grew from 44 million to 47 million this year, its second largest market after Japan. Volvo successfully sold cars on the platform after launching in May and studying customer data, its Thailand head of marketing and digitization, Jean-David Harel, said. “We have an understanding of which models they own today, which interest they have and when they plan to change their existing car,” he said. Line last year introduced a feature for merchants to organize inventory and online store fronts, which now has over 50,000 users.



from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2553126/louis-vuitton-joins-other-brands-selling-products-line-chat-app

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