The brand’s first flagship store which will sell fashion and leather goods collections and opened on December 21. A second store focused on beauty products will launch in February 2021 and will be operated by Gucci’s license partner Coty.

China, which boasts a higher volume of luxury online consumers compared to Europe or the U.S. has been a key market for the luxury sector this year, with sales surging in the country since lockdown measures began, while other territories have nosedived amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Chinese customers already represented around 35% of luxury goods purchases before the pandemic and are now expected to account for almost half of global sales of high-end clothes, handbags and jewellery by 2025, according to consultancy Bain, Reuters reports.

Luxury brands, who have traditionally refrained from selling online, have been forced to embrace e-commerce through their own websites as well as third-party platforms. Young consumers in particular are expected to drive recovery and growth post-Covid-19. Gucci has its own Chinese website, gucci.cn, and is present on all major Chinese social media platforms, including Weibo and WeChat. Tmall Luxury Pavilion is said to have a consumer base of 750 million people.