Oct. 31 (NBD) -- According to a report co-drafted by Bain & Company and Fondazione Altagamma, the trade association for the Italian luxury industry, the global luxury market is expected to grow 5 percent to an estimated 1.2 trillion euros (1.4 trillion U.S. dollars) this year.

Sales of personal luxury goods are projected to hit a record 262 billion euros (305 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, with 32 percent estimated to be contributed by Chinese customers, the report shows. Of those, online sales are expected to rise 24 percent to 23 billion euros (27 billion U.S. dollars).

With Single's Day (November 11) around the corner, Chinese e-commerce behemoths like Alibaba and JD.com are busy in building hype for China's biggest online shopping festival.

This time, they are targeting high-income people.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, high-income people accounted for three percent while high-to-medium income people took up seven percent of China's total population in 2015, with the proportion of high-income pople predicted to rise to 15 percent and 20 percent, respectively, by 2030.

Alibaba's B2C marketplace Tmall.com has held a launch ceremony for its live-streamed runway show called "Tmall Collection" in Shanghai, with the extravaganza scheduled to be broadcast today.

Global fashion brands like Guerlain, Adidas, Pandora, and RIMOWA have participated in the ceremony. More than 150 new products featured in the show, including those from LVMH and Estee Lauder, will then make their debut in Tmall.com.

Coincidentally, JD.com not long ago launched Toplife, a dedicated and independent sales platform for luxury goods, and established the JD CHICLEAGUE in collaboration with nearly 100 chic brands, making a strong push into the fashion area.

To date, flagship stores of famous brands have accounted for more than 60 percent of total stores on JD.com.

Internet observer Wang Guanxiong told NBD that people are showing stronger interest in affordable luxury goods, which brings enormous opportunities to e-commerce companies.

The booming fashion e-commerce market is going to see the involvement of more newcomers as well as more stiff competition, and how to reassure customers of the authenticity of luxury goods bought online will be the top priority for e-commerce retailers, Wang added.

A report by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company predicts that the global luxury market will add 1 trillion yuan (151 billion U.S. dollars) to 2.7 trillion yuan (407 billion U.S. dollars) by 2025.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn