LVMH strengthens partnership with Alibaba

French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has announced it is deepening its partnership with Chinese e-commerce and technology giant Alibaba to “redefine luxury retail experiences in China”.

In a statement, LVMH said the extended partnership aims to push the boundaries of the luxury experience in China by leveraging Alibaba’s cloud technologies through AI-powered innovations in retail and online with Tmall.

LVMH added that the strengthening of the partnership was a shared commitment from the two companies “to pioneer retail innovation and delivering exceptional, tech-driven luxury experiences,” while helping the French luxury group increase its omnichannel, data and tech presence in China.

Stephane Bianchi, group managing director of LVMH, said: “Alibaba is already a key partner for our Maisons and for the Group. The reinforcement of our partnership will help us to further accelerate our omni-channel business growth and to keep on leveraging the transformative capabilities of cloud and AI technologies, along with Alibaba’s world-leading expertise in e-commerce operations.

“Our forward-looking collaboration will deliver unparalleled experiences to our clients throughout their high-end shopping journey.”

The strategic partnership between LVMH and Alibaba started in 2019 and has seen LVMH implement Alibaba Cloud’s data management tool, Dataphin, to power ‘LVMH Atom’ China, a bespoke platform to deliver personalised services tailored to its expanding Chinese customer base. In addition, LVMH has leveraged Alibaba Cloud’s machine learning platform, PAI, to develop customised services that cater to the distinct tastes of Chinese consumers across all its brands.

LVMH looks to Alibaba to enhance luxury experience for Chinese shoppers

As part of the new deal, LVMH has begun integrating Alibaba Cloud's generative AI capabilities, including Qwen, Alibaba’s proprietary large language model, and Model Studio (Bailian), a comprehensive AI model-building platform.

It covers more than 30 brands and divisions within mainland China and Southeast Asia, including beauty retailer Sephora’s Asia-Pacific division and travel retail arm DFS, and will give LVMH access to a broader array of Alibaba Cloud's leading technologies and products to optimise its business operations, enhance customer insights, and streamline its supply chain management processes to address Chinese market.

Eddie Wu, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group, added: “Alibaba is pleased to enable a transformation of the high-end consumption experience with retail leaders like LVMH through our world-class technologies in cloud computing and AI.

“This comprehensive partnership has elevated the retail experience for LVMH’s customers worldwide, including China-based consumers on Tmall. We look forward to continuing to build on the strong partnership and innovation journey with LVMH.”

This announcement follows the recent debut of Tiffany’s and Chaumet on Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion, which offers experiences such as 3D product displays, virtual try-ons, and livestreaming.