THE WHAT? Chanel is notorious for its ‘barely there e-commerce strategy’, so the news that the French fashion brand is to start hawking its perfume and cosmetics via Korea’s Kakao Talk app, according to a report published by the Korea Times, comes as quite the surprise.

THE DETAILS The luxury atelier listed some 22 products on the app last month, a significant departure from its strategy to date, which has restricted e-commerce to the beauty category only, and even then, eschewed third party sellers.

THE WHY? Kakao Talk has high penetration, reportedly used by 93 percent of smartphone holders in Korea and Chanel is in good company, with fellow luxury players Dior (LVMH), Yves Saint Laurent (L’Oréal) and Estee Lauder listed. With the GVC accelerating the move to digital, Chanel was faced with a stark choice, go digital or lose sales to rivals – clearly, it’s chosen the former.