A Prada store in Hong Kong  Photo: VCG

Luxury brand Prada has joined the online gateway into China, which is the latest example for luxury brands exploring China market in the aftermath of the epidemic fight. More luxury brands are expected to follow.

Prada on Saturday has officially opened a flagship store on Tmall, Alibaba Group's B2C online marketplace, and MiuMiu is expected to follow soon, Tmall said.

The store has men's and women's wear, bags and shoes, with prices ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan. So far, there are more than 20,000 followers online.

Prada brings its most representative products, as well as two new items - limited gift boxes for men's and women's bags.

The normal operation of European luxury brands has been hit hard as European countries have be-come another battleground to fight the coronavirus pandemic,

The death toll from the coronavirus in Italy rose to 1,441 on Saturday, up almost 14 percent from the 1,266 total reported a day earlier, the civil protection authority said.

At present, Gucci, Fendi, Celine and other luxury brands have temporarily closed their Italian stores. French luxury brand stores have also begun to shorten business hours. Italian luxury brand Giorgio Armani has announced that it will temporarily close its luxury hotels, restaurants and all bou-tiques in Milan. The brand's holiday series, originally scheduled to be held in Dubai from April 19 to 20, has also been postponed to November, according to tmtpost.com.

Since the Chinese market has always been the first choice for European luxury brands, more and more luxury brands have accelerated their transition to online retail. 

Since the beginning of the year, there have been a number of brands, including Cartier and Kenzo,  to open stores on Tmall, which revealed on Sunday that they will have another two luxury brands to joining the platform on Thursday.

Nielsen said in a recent report that 67 percent of retailers would expand online channels, and the consumption will see a rebound after the outbreak.

In fact, even in the epidemic, the Chinese market has proven the potential of online retail. 

According to data from Tmall, on the just past Women's Day, overall sales far exceeded last year, and sales of more than 20,000 brands increased by more than 100 percent year-on-year.