Bloomberg news recently reported that “China’s largest online retailers expect sales to as much as triple next year”. With an accompanying increase in demand for warehouse space, rental rates are rising; some key e-commerce players saw their sales reduced simply due to lack of warehouse space. There is also a dramatic increase in investment in the e-commerce industry in China. For these reasons and more, it is obvious that e commerce is booming and will continue to grow in China over the upcoming years.

As online platforms become increasingly important for brands, there are implications for brand identity design. This applies to brands that support e-commerce on their websites (Burberry), as well as e-commerce retail brands themselves (360buy, Yihaodian). Brand differentiation is a key concern, as the competitors are only a click away.
Let’s take a look at a brand that seems to have got it right- Burberry.

Key elements of brand identity application:
Logotype: Burberry logotype appears in the top left hand corner and is also displayed in other windows for special products or services (eg. Burberry bespoke trench coats)
Font: The brand’s font is used throughout the site for the English characters
Colours and Images: Colours and images are consistent with Burberry’s overall brand identity, symbolizing fashion, luxury, sophistication, and heritage.
Features: Both images and videos are displayed to give a digitally savvy feel. Users can have a “My Burberry” account enabling e-commerce.
Functionality: The site is easy to navigate, with well organized and structured pages
Content: The content is relevant to brand’s core idea: Brand heritage, fashion shows, charity work, and more.
China has a luxury goods ecommerce site called Xiu.com, where Burberry products can also be purchased. However, it still doesn’t seem to be a very trustworthy channel. They offer price discounts, but sometimes the brands claim these discounts were not authorized. (Even with these difficulties, xiu.com received a $100 million investment from U.S. private-equity funds Warburg Pincus and KPCB China as it expects sales to more than quadruple to 1.2 billion yuan in 2011 from 250 million yuan last year.)
E-commerce brands themselves also need to carefully consider their brand identity. From success stories such as amazon.com, it is apparent that a good brand name, a strong logo, and the applications on brand identity touchpoints are vital considerations.