Foreign retailers learning how to click with Chinese fashionistas

Zara hired a group of experts that monitors its global logistics system to ensure that any order received from China would be handled directly by its Spanish headquarters. The drive to win new Chinese online customers helped Spain's Inditex SA, owner of the Zara brand, to deliver an enviable first-half balance sheet. Akos Stiller / Bloomberg

Popularity of cross-border online shopping rising among urbanites.

Chinese bargain-hunters spent a record amount with domestic Internet retailers during last year's Double 11 sales, but they are eyeing a new marketplace overseas.

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"Cyber Monday" and "Black Friday" are no longer unfamiliar terms to China's price-savvy middle class. A growing number of English-speaking credit card holders have joined the international fray.

"It's quite simple. You just register an account, pick out the goods, choose a form of delivery and pay for it," said Chen Chengzi, a regular at overseas online shopping.

The popular trend of cross-border online shopping is being spearheaded by a number of shopaholics who understand how to buy things overseas. They usually choose items with price differences or things that tend to be unattainable in China.

The e-commerce landscape has also attracted foreign brands that are extending their footprints via online stores to capitalize on the fertile international market.

For example, a drive to win new fashion-conscious customers via the Internet helped Spain's Inditex SA, owner of the Zara brand, to deliver an enviable first-half balance sheet.

Zara has undertaken a big online push since 2010, starting in its home country Spain and spreading to other European countries. Last year, it also launched e-commerce sites in the United States and Japan.

In addition, such fast-fashion brands as H&M, US retailer Gap Inc and Japanese brand Uniqlo also have sought to enter China's e-commerce sector over the past two years.

However, each company has chosen a different approach.

Zara said it hired a group of experts that monitors its global logistics system to ensure that any order received from China would be handled directly by its Spanish headquarters.