[Market View] Has luxury e-commerce entered a dead end?

　　On January 5, the luxury e-commerce platform Secoo added a new bankruptcy review case information. The applicant, Chai Chenxu, applied to the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court for bankruptcy liquidation on the grounds that Secoo could not repay the due debts.

Although Secoo denied the "bankruptcy and reorganization" that night, public information shows that in 2021, Secoo has a total of 7 related equity freezes, with a total value of about 153 million yuan.

In addition, there are currently a total of 8,500 related complaints on Secoo on the black cat complaint, and many users on social platforms have spoken out and asked Secoo to refund.

　　Since 2008, Secoo has been established for nearly 14 years. In addition to bags, watches, jewelry, and clothing, it also includes high-end businesses such as luxury car rental and customized private jet travel.

In 2017, it successfully went public in the United States and became the "first stock of luxury e-commerce".

In the year of listing, Secoo's net profit achieved a nearly 400% increase.

Until the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the performance began to decline sharply.

The Secoo offline experience store with a display area of ​​1,600 square meters was opened less than a year ago and closed two months ago.

　　The reporter combed and found that after 2010, my country's luxury e-commerce entered a period of sudden growth, and the number of latecomers such as Fifth Avenue, Charming Hui, Zhenpin, Shangpin, etc.

According to incomplete statistics from Tianyancha, in 2021 under the epidemic, there will still be 4 financing events on luxury e-commerce platforms, with an amount of nearly 450 million yuan, and an average of over 100 million yuan per financing.

However, bad competition and the "war of burning money" have led luxury e-commerce businesses to fall into a vicious circle, with some companies failing and some struggling until the tide of bankruptcy.

　　From an industry perspective, luxury e-commerce has always had the root cause of "unknown supply".

According to industry analysts, luxury e-commerce companies such as Catwalk and Secoo play the role of channel dealers and middlemen. Strictly speaking, the goods are not directly sent to consumers by the brand side.

Chanel once issued a "warning": never authorized and supplied third-party platforms.

　　According to the "2019 China Luxury E-commerce Report", the supply rate of unofficial merchants of luxury brands in China's online channels is 73%, the shipment rate of unofficial products is 81%, and the possibility of customers buying fake products exceeds 48%. %.

In addition, the major luxury brands are vigorously developing their own websites, which has accelerated the comprehensive luxury e-commerce to the end.

In 2020, luxury brands opened an average of one flagship store on Tmall every week. Last year, over 200 luxury brands officially participated in Tmall Double 11.

JD.com has also reached cooperation with many luxury brands, including LV, DIOR, Bulgari, PRADA, etc.

The layout and support of e-commerce giants in the luxury industry has diluted the value of independent luxury platforms such as Secoo.

　　On the other hand, for a special vertical platform such as luxury e-commerce, purchasing high-end categories will increase financial pressure, and it is backward compatible with affordable products but cannot do e-commerce in popular categories.

The business model of high failure and low success has also overwhelmed the luxury e-commerce industry. Once the financing is "burned", it will be in trouble.

　　Secoo has tried to diversify into the fields of beauty, home furnishing, tourism, etc., and also sells affordable products such as grains, hot pot bases, and snacks on its official website.

Not only has the move failed to attract new customers, it has turned luxury consumers away.

At the same price, consumers are more concerned about the service and trust of the brand, and the black cat complaint data proves that Secoo has not solved the after-sales problem.

　　In September 2021, the second-hand luxury e-commerce platform "Boom Luxury" announced the completion of a 100 million yuan A+ round of financing; in the same month, Shiji received a $40 million B round of financing.

In December, Kuaishou E-commerce announced the opening of a series of second-hand clothing, second-hand fashion clothing and other second-hand categories to the live broadcast room, and started a wave of second-hand luxury live broadcasts. During the same period, Douyin introduced a number of luxury brands to the live broadcast room to sell goods.

　　Under the double squeeze, are luxury e-commerce companies such as Secoo entering a dead end?

The core of luxury companies is to tell brand stories, culture and services, and then sell goods at high premiums, and e-commerce will inevitably rely on low-price wars to increase consumer stickiness.

E-commerce and luxury are like two opposites.

Perhaps the development of new players in the "second-hand" category can give some inspiration to old players such as Secoo.