Retail in Asia

In Shops

Catering to the Chinese shopper’s grand tour

The Lunar New Year holiday is now underway, a time when a big part of the 110 million Chinese expected to travel abroad this year will be packing their bags – and their wallets – for luxury expeditions.

And purveyors of European luxury brands, anticipating the arrival of this important clientele, stand ready to embrace it, whether by offering guided tours, in Mandarin, of flagship showrooms; providing backstage access to couture runway shows; or engaging in a variety of other flourishes tailored for the Chinese tourist-shopper. US companies have been slower to attract the Chinese shopper, but some retailers, like Tiffany, have Mandarin-speaking staff or hold special events.

Storied European brands like Burberry, Hermès and Dior can be bought in high-end shops and shopping malls of major Chinese cities, of course. But for reasons including higher taxes in China and lower prices in Europe, Chinese consumers, who buy more luxury products than shoppers of any other nationality, prefer to do their buying abroad. Of the more than USD80 billion in Chinese purchases of personal luxury goods last year, two-thirds were made outside China.
 

(Source: CNBC)