Why does Sephora take anti-counterfeiting measure by opening store on JD.com?

Cosmetics retailer Sephora announced today in Beijing that it opened an online "flagship" store on JD.com, Alibaba's rival, in part to reassure Chinese consumers they are buying authentic make-up in a country where around up to 20% of the cosmetics market is counterfeit.

化妆品零售商丝芙兰日前在北京宣布，在阿里巴巴的竞争对手京东商城上开设了网络旗舰店，一部分原因是：确保中国消费者购买的彩妆产品是正品。在中国，化妆品市场约20％的份额被假货充斥着。

"We've seen the effort by JD.com that they value authenticity, Helen Zhou, vice president of marketing and e-commerce for Sephora China, said in an interview today.

日前，负责市场营销和电子商务的丝芙兰中国区副总裁海伦•周在采访中表示："我们看到了京东坚持销售正品的努力。"

China's government has recently zeroed in on fighting online fakes to reassure the country's online shoppers who increasingly desire authentic, brand name goods. China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce said this spring it is intensifying penalties for online shops selling fakes and increasing fines to make "traders who sell such goods unable to continue operations or go bankrupt," SAIC's head Zhang Mao said.

近来，中国政府重点打击网上售假，以打消网购者的疑虑，网购者越来越希望买到名牌正品。今春，中国国家工商行政管理总局称，会加强对网店售假的处罚，提高罚款额度，工商总局局长张茅表示，要使售假企业"无法经营"，甚至被罚得"倾家荡产"。

Sephora, which is part of French luxury goods group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA , said choosing JD.com as a partner came down to the company's reputation for selling genuine products and its logistics: if Sephora keeps inventory at JD's warehouses they could offer same-day delivery in 130 Chinese districts and counties (for now, Sephora will run its own inventory except in Shanghai).

丝芙兰隶属于法国路威酩轩奢侈品集团旗下，它说之所以选择京东商城作为合作伙伴，一是因为京东坚持销售正品的良好声誉，二是因为该公司的物流。如果丝芙兰将库存放在京东的仓库里，将能在全国130个区县实现当日送达（在上海以外地区，丝芙兰暂时仍将自行管理库存）。

A few years ago Sephora wasn't interested in expanding online in China, according to Zhou. It watched the way Chinese online shoppers gravitated toward sale offers, before considering brand or quality, and decided that wasn't a fit for the retailer that sells brands like Dior, Guerlain and Givenchy.Since then, the rise of Alibaba's platforms and JD.com have made shopping for trusted brands about more than price in China. But fakes remain a problem.

海伦•周表示，几年前，丝芙兰尚无意在中国开设网店。当时，该公司看到中国网购者多被降价促销吸引，而不大考虑商品品牌和质量，因此决定，作为一家销售迪奥、娇兰和纪梵希等高端品牌的零售商，其不适合在中国开设网店。自那以来，阿里巴巴旗下平台以及京东商城的兴起，使网购者将购买值得信赖的品牌作为比价格更重要的考虑因素。但假货问题仍然存在。

Earlier this year a Chinese regulator criticized Alibaba for the number of counterfeit goods it found on Taobao. The regulator contended only 19 of 51 items it bought on the consumer-to-consumer marketplace were genuine, creating a very public spat between Alibaba and its government accuser. (The regulator eventually removed the critical report from its website.) Taobao hosts 8 million sellers and Alibaba says it spends more than $16 million a year fighting piracy.

今年早些时候，监管机构工商总局批评阿里巴巴旗下的淘宝网上假冒伪劣商品众多，称在抽查的51件淘宝商品中，仅有19件是正品。阿里巴巴因此公开与工商总局辩论。（工商总局最终将相关报告从该局网站上删除。）淘宝上有800万卖家，阿里巴巴表示每年在打击盗版上花费超过1600万美元。

JD.com, meanwhile, generates over half its revenue from selling goods in its own warehouses, like Amazon, and only has about 60,000 merchants on its separate marketplace platform—which the company says allows it to better regulate fakes.

与此同时，同亚马逊一样，京东半数以上的收入来自销售自营商品，其平台业务与自营业务分开，而且仅入驻了约6万家第三方卖家。京东称，这使其能更好地杜绝售假。

Even on platforms where brands sell directly to consumers, genuine products aren't guaranteed. SAIC also said six of seven items from Alibaba's Tmall.com, where brands host their own stores, were authentic; 18 of 20 from JD.com and 9 of 10 from online food retailer Yhd.com, in which Wal-Mart owns a controlling stake.

即便在那些品牌直销的平台上，也无法保证100%都是正品。工商总局称，在阿里巴巴天猫平台上的品牌自营店中，抽检的7件商品中，有6件是正品；京东抽检的20件商品中，有18件是正品，而从沃尔玛控股的网上食品零售商一号店抽检的10件商品中，有9件是正品。

Jumei International, an online make-up retailer based in Beijing and traded on the New York Stock Exchange, abandoned its third-party marketplace business entirely last fall because of the difficultly of policing fakes. It now includes codes on the products it sells to verify their provenance. "We have to go the extra mile with consumers," co-Chief Financial Officer Mona Meng Gao told Bloomberg last week.

由于打假难度很大，去年秋天，总部设在北京并在纽交所上市的在线化妆品零售商聚美优品，彻底关闭了其第三方平台业务。现在，聚美在自己销售的商品上打码，以确保其来源可靠。公司联席首席财务官高孟向彭博表示："为了消费者，我们必须做出额外的努力。"

Sephora may be among the brands benefiting most from the new focus on authenticity. Cosmetics are relatively easy to counterfeit, which explains why you see luxury brands trading at steep discounts in small shops around China and creeping into online marketplaces.

丝芙兰可能是从消费者开始关注正品问题中获益最大的品牌之一。化妆品相对容易伪造，在中国各地的小商店和网店里，总能看到"奢侈品牌"超低价销售，原因就在此。

Sephora and Jumei can warn consumers of the dangers of fakes—high levels of lead, mercury and other metals for one—but they still need to offer alternatives. Sephora's "store" on JD.com, replete with the retailer's black and white- striped designs, is its newest offering.

丝芙兰和聚美可以提醒消费者使用假货存在危险，比如假货往往铅、汞等重金属超标。但他们也需要为消费者提供替代方案。京东上的丝芙兰官方旗舰店（充斥着丝芙兰标志性的黑白条纹设计）就是丝芙兰呈献给消费者的全新选项。