Zara dreaming big with Tmall presence

Spanish retail chain Zara on Monday launched an online store on Tmall.com, China's largest brand and retail platform, to further expand its presence in the burgeoning e-commerce market and to reach out to more customers in China's second-and third-tier cities.

Zara has had an official e-commerce website operational since 2012 and more than 450 physical stores across the country. The Tmall store will offer shoppers the same products that are available in those channels at the same price, according to Zara.

Tmall officials told China Daily that the deal with Zara's parent company - the Spain-based Industria de Diseno Textil SA, also known as Inditex Group - is the result of over two years of negotiations and involved the exchange of over 10,000 e-mails.