Chinanews client, Beijing, September 2 (Zuo Yukun) This industry is extraordinary!
The richest man in the past lost money, sales in Europe and the United States slowed down, but the domestic rush to queue up to soft legs?
While most shopping malls are still in the rhythm of recovery after the epidemic, there are already long queues of customers in some shopping malls.
But this team is not at the "tear-sweeping" promotion site, but "not falling but rising" luxury stores.
Data map: An LV store in Shanghai.
Photo by Kang Yuzhan
Sorrowful! The richest man in the past received a dismal transcript
In the past week, many of the world's top richest people have had a good time.
For example, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's net worth exceeded $200 billion, becoming the first person in history; Tesla CEO Elon Musk's net worth has also risen by more than $100 billion with Tesla's stock price.
The arrival of Musk has increased the number of members in the global billionaire club to four, but this does not include the world’s top luxury brand Moët Hennessy, the owner of Louis Vuitton Group (LVMH), who was the richest man in the world at the beginning of the year. Bernard Arnault.
During the epidemic, he was also called the biggest loser because of the violent shrinking of wealth.
What makes Arnault even more troublesome is that the LVMH Group’s earnings report for the first half of 2020 released not long ago showed that in the first half of the year, LVMH’s sales fell 28% to 18.393 billion euros, and net profit shrank by 84% to 522 million euros.
The main reason for the decline was the large-scale stagnation of business in Europe, America and Japan.
Under the epidemic, large shopping malls in Toronto, Canada were deserted.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Ruidong
For him, the only good news may be that the Asian market has rebounded significantly under China's strong recovery. The decline in the second quarter has narrowed from 32% in the first quarter to 13%.
Since August, the "queuing tide" set off outside luxury stores in many places in China is proof of this recovery.
Row by row! Luxury stores are like vegetable markets
"I think everyone's economy will not do well this year, but now it seems that I may not do well." Wang Wei (pseudonym), who has been working for two years, made up his mind not long ago to buy a luxury brand backpack to reward herself.
So on a weekend in early August, she went to a mall in Beijing where luxury brands were concentrated, and found that there were long queues in front of many stores.
"I lined up at the door of LV for nearly an hour, and saw that everyone who came in came out carrying at least one big bag. Originally, I was already late, and there were so many people until the broadcast kept saying'delayed closing of the store'. "Wang Wei chatted with others while queuing and learned that, let alone weekends, shopping malls also have to line up on weekdays, and they have to wait half an hour to get in and out of the parking lot.
"When I went to the parking lot, the people waiting for the elevator were LV and YSL (Saint Laurent) with big bags. To be honest, it reminds me of the scene of discounts and dumping in department stores when I was a kid." Wang Wei said.
On social networking sites, netizens shared the scene of queuing in luxury stores.
Screenshot
"Recently, SKP has a Chinese Valentine's Day event, and there has been a significant increase in customers. But in fact, the passenger flow in Beijing has already started to pick up. The store celebration in May was a climax in the first half of the year." Worked at Beijing SKP, the largest luxury shopping mall in China Jialing (pseudonym), her service consultant, told Chinanews.com.
According to Jialing recalled, since the epidemic, SKP has held a number of activities such as Chinese Valentine's Day and store celebrations, mainly in the form of discounts, coupon rebates, and multiple points. The intensity is quite strong, and the purpose is to attract consumers to spend again, and the effect is also very significant. .
"The recovery of China's luxury goods industry is accelerating." The Boston Consulting Group recently released the "Fashion and Luxury Industry: Outlook for the Chinese Market after the Epidemic", which predicts that the global fashion industry will fall between 29% and 37% in 2020, while China Not only is it possible to equalize the loss at the beginning of the year, it is more likely to increase by up to 10% against the trend.
"There are more customers, and our work intensity is also much greater. And because the flow is too much, it is easy to make mistakes. After the store is closed, the counting is wrong, and you have to re-order, it will be early in the morning." Also doing service in a luxury store in Beijing The consultant Nan Yan (pseudonym) told Chinanews that the tiring days have been going on for several months. "Since the level of response to the epidemic in Beijing was downgraded, a large number of customers have come up."
According to the “2020 China Luxury Retail Report” released by Savills recently, the passenger flow of top shopping malls in six major cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou dropped sharply in February, down about 80% from the historical average, but in March It began to quickly rise to 54%.
In June, the average passenger flow of these shopping malls exceeded the historical average by 1%, completing the first breakthrough in the year.
Go up and up! "Buy one day late, increase the price by three thousand"?
Why can luxury goods achieve a strong rebound against the trend?
Many people think that the rising prices of luxury goods are the main reason.
Under the psychological influence of "buy the rise but not the fall", the price adjustment will promote the consumption of some people.
"Buy one day late, increase the price by three thousand." Price increase is not uncommon for luxury goods, and the luxury goods industry has a saying that "if it does not increase, it is not a luxury."
Even if it is not because of the epidemic, brands will adjust their prices according to inflation every year, and an increase of around 5% is normal.
Following March, May, and July, leading luxury brands increased prices. Recently, news that luxury goods will rise again in September has been posted on social networking sites.
"Basically every customer will ask if the price is going to increase. This news does have a big impact and will make many people who are still struggling make up their minds." Nan Yan also said that Dior, who she works for The brand has not yet received news of price increases.
Chinanews also asked the staff of several other luxury brands.
The sales staff of the LV brand with the most violent news about the price increase said that the company told them that there is no price increase arrangement for the time being; the sales staff of the Chanel brand also said that the brand has just adjusted its price in May and will not temporarily Go up again.
Data map: A Chanel store in Shanghai.
Photo by Kang Yuzhan
"In fact, I think that the real impact of rising prices on luxury goods consumption is not so great, because the purchase of luxury goods by wealthy people with strong purchasing power will not be affected by the epidemic or price increases." Nan Yan feels that the current queue The main reason is that the flow of passengers is increasing, but luxury stores basically require one-to-one reception. There are too many guests and the staff is not enough, so you have to queue to enter.
"The main reason is that the spending power of the core consumers of luxury goods has not changed." Zhou Ting, a luxury expert and Dean of the VIP Research Institute, also holds the same view. "This year, everyone cannot travel abroad. In addition, some luxury brands have some small strategies, such as increasing prices, to deliberately stimulate consumers."
“Top luxury brands are still very attractive to Chinese consumers due to their brand premiums, scarcity and symbolic status.” Savills report analysis shows that China’s high-net-worth individuals have increased year after year and their assets And wealth is limited by the epidemic and short-term economic weakness, and there is still enough cash in hand to buy luxury goods.
Buy buy buy! Offline crowded, online effort
Wang Wei finally bought her long-cherished bag, but because of the “brain queuing” at the mall, she chose to place an order online after doing enough homework.
"I bought it on the official website, and the classic items are also abundant. SF Express ships home with free shipping. The packaging is not bad at all. I think it's much more comfortable than queuing in a store." Wang Wei said.
Online luxury goods orders.
Photo courtesy of respondents
The "2020 China Luxury Retail Report" shows that in April and May when the epidemic stabilizes, the official accounts of luxury brands on Douyin and Xiaohongshu have increased by 140% year-on-year, and the promotion of online channels has become a trend for many young customers. Motivation sources and consumer touch points for store shopping.
In Li Jiaqi's live broadcast on August 24, he launched an explosive mini cloud bag from the Italian luxury brand Bottega Veneta.
A total of 230 pieces of this bag were on the shelves in the live broadcast room, and they were all robbed in less than 10 seconds.
Countdown, panic buying, short selling, off shelves-this process is not unusual in Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room.
However, the live room price of this cloud bag is 12,300 yuan, which is the same as the brand's official website price, except that there is an extra gift box worth 1,000 yuan and 12 interest-free purchase options.
In the field of e-commerce live broadcasting, where “affordable and low price” is the main selling point, this may mean a major change.
"According to the data we know so far, the sales of top luxury brands in offline stores have increased year-on-year in double digits, and online growth has increased in 3 digits year-on-year, and some brands have increased in 4 digits." Zhou Ting introduced.
What do you think of luxury goods, are you willing to buy them, go shopping or online shopping?
(Finish)