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Chinese consumers still lead the world in buying luxury

luxury sales, chinese consumers

Chinese tourists at the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris. 

Although China's slower economic growth, crackdown on gifting and weaker currency have ended the days of breakneck growth for the country's luxury market, the global brands invested there are not panicking. They say China, as the world's largest market, still looks likely to continue to make up for weaker demand elsewhere.

虽然中国经济增长放缓、打击送礼以及人民币贬值结束了该国奢侈品市场飞速增长的时期,但是在中国投资的国际品牌并没有感到恐慌。他们说,中国作为世界上最大的市场,仍很有可能继续弥补其他地方低迷的需求。

A younger and more sophisticated generation of shoppers with markedly different tastes, aspirations and consumption habits is reshaping the landscape of luxury in China. Educated, well-traveled and tech-savvy, they are emerging as the new target market.

更精致的年轻一代购物者具有明显不同的品味、渴望和消费习惯,正在重塑中国奢侈品市场的大环境。受过良好教育、经常旅行、精通技术的年轻一代成为新的目标消费者。

A decade ago, when most Chinese only knew of two kinds of wine (red and white) and demand for luxury products was just beginning, skeptics voiced doubts that shoppers, wealthy or not, would forgo the ubiquitous counterfeit goods found in Shanghai's Xiangyang Market or Silk Alley in Beijing. Others said that the Chinese would just choose the biggest brands.

十年前,大部分中国人只知道两种葡萄酒(红葡萄酒和白葡萄酒),对奢侈品的需求刚刚出现。当时有人怀疑,购物者——无论富裕与否——是否会抛弃在上海襄阳路市场或北京秀水街随处可见的仿制品。也有人说,中国人只会选择最著名的牌子。

They were wrong, of course. Today, Chinese shoppers account for nearly half of the global luxury market, providing invaluable demand to brands in every segment.

当然,他们都错了。如今,在全球奢侈品消费者中,有近一半是中国人,他们为各个领域的品牌提供了不可估量的市场需求。

"In the past, luxury goods were seen as a symbol of wealth and status for Chinese consumers," said Dr. Tina Zhou of the Shanghai-based Fortune Character Institute, a luxury research consultancy. "Now they buy luxury goods for their own enjoyment."

"过去,奢侈品被中国消费者视为财富和地位的象征,"上海的奢侈品研究咨询公司财富品质研究院(Fortune Character Institute)的周婷博士说,"现在他们购买奢侈品是为了自己享受。"

Estimates of the size of China's luxury market vary depending on which items analysts consider to be luxury goods. Data from Fortune Character Institute has China's luxury spending in 2015 at $16.8 billion, up 9 percent, year on year.

由于分析师对奢侈品的界定各有不同,所以对中国奢侈品市场规模的估算也各不相同。财富品质研究院的数据显示,2015年,中国的奢侈品消费额达168亿美元,比前一年增长了9%。

Bain & Company's 2015 China Luxury Market Study put the value of the Chinese luxury market last year at $17.3 billion, which it calculated to be a drop of 2 percent.

贝恩公司(Bain & Company)的2015年中国奢侈品市场研究称,去年中国奢侈品市场的消费额为173亿美元,比前一年降低了2%。

Regardless of how luxury is defined, there are some visible trends that are shaping the direction of luxury consumption in China. A shift away from visibly branded goods to a focus on quality has hurt sales of many brands with strong name recognition, while strengthening other players.

不管如何界定奢侈品,有些明显的趋势正在塑造中国奢侈品消费的方向。人们把注意力从知名品牌转向产品质量,这削弱了很多具有很高知名度的品牌的销售,而促进了其他一些品牌的销售。

"Our research found that 39 percent of wealthy Chinese think the logo is no longer the priority," Dr. Zhou said. "Niche high-end brands as well as bespoke products, as a result, are becoming new drivers of luxury consumption."

"我们的研究发现,39%的中国富人不再把品牌作为首要考虑因素,"周婷说,"所以,小众高端品牌和定制产品成为奢侈品消费的新动力。"

And this focal shift to younger shoppers who have absorbed luxury marketing since childhood — and are seeking something different from the LV-emblazoned bags and Burberry plaids of their parents' generation — has profound implications, at least in the short term, for established brands.

年轻一代购物者从童年时期就吸收奢侈品市场营销,他们想要一些与父母一代的LV手袋和博柏利(Burberry)格子花纹不一样的东西。市场重心转向年轻一代,这至少会在短期内对知名品牌造成深刻影响。

"The Chinese customer is becoming a lot more global," said Andrew Keith, president of Lane Crawford, the high-end fashion retailer headquartered in Hong Kong. "There's a real thirst for newness."

"中国消费者变得非常全球化,"总部位于香港的高端时装零售商连卡佛(Lane Crawford)的总裁安德鲁·基思(Andrew Keith)说,"人们真的渴望新鲜事物。"

Mr. Keith described today's typical Lane Crawford customer as female, between the ages of 25 and 35 and interested in ready-to-wear. Women's wear is the fastest-growing portion of the company's mainland China business, accounting for 50 percent of sales, he said.

基思说,如今连卡佛的典型消费者是对成衣感兴趣的25岁至35岁女性。他说,女装是该公司中国内地业务中增长最快的部分,占销售额的50%。

"Today our customers are more confident, and they have much more of an understanding of lifestyle," Mr. Keith said. "It's not just about purchasing, it's about the experience."

"如今,我们的消费者更加自信,他们对生活方式有了更深入的了解,"基思说,"不只是为了购买,也是为了体验。"

A big part of the experience is shopping while traveling. Not long ago, Hong Kong was a preferred destination for luxury shopping, he said, but today Tokyo and Europe are more important. Currency exchange rates play into this, as does the trend toward foreign travel.

很重要的一项体验是旅行购物。他说,不久前,香港是内地人购买奢侈品的首选目的地,但是现在东京和欧洲变得更重要。汇率和出国旅游的盛行都是导致这一结果的因素。

Although its bricks-and-mortar presence is limited to Beijing, Chengdu, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Lane Crawford has a broader reach among the new Chinese luxury shoppers with an omnichannel approach that integrates store and online experiences. Customers who shop both in stores and online tend to spend five times as much and shop five times as often as other Lane Crawford customers, he said.

虽然连卡佛仅在北京、成都、香港和上海设有实体店,但它把实体店购物与网上购物结合起来,能够全方位地接触中国的新奢侈品购物者。他说,同时在连卡佛实体店和网店购物的顾客的消费额和购物次数是其他顾客的5倍。

"We have always approached online as part of the store experience — the sweet spot for us is how we use our omnichannel experience to increase loyalty," Mr. Keith said. "We can penetrate the market fairly effectively in second- and third-tier cities where we don't have a physical presence."

"我们一直把网购作为实体店购物体验的一部分,令我们高兴的是,我们用全方位体验吸引了更多忠实顾客,"基思说,"我们能非常有效地深入到没有连卡佛实体店的二三线城市。"

The rise of new global Chinese shoppers also has been a boon for Lane Crawford's online business, he said, with Chinese customers accounting for 40 percent to 50 percent of transactions outside of Greater China, which includes the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau.

基思说,新的全球化中国购物者的涌现也有利于连卡佛的网购业务,中国消费者占大中华(包括中国内地、香港和澳门)以外地区交易的40%至50%。

But not all Chinese luxury purchases abroad involve travel. The fact that a luxury item in China can cost as much as 80 percent more than the identical item in Europe — the result of exchange rates, taxes and duties — has continued to help the daigou, or proxy purchase, services. These traders traditionally have taken orders — and continue to do so now from online sites — for purchases in Europe and then ship the goods to China, saving the end customer a significant amount, compared with prices in Chinese stores.

不过,中国人购买海外奢侈品并不都是通过旅行。由于汇率、税收和关税等因素,在中国购买奢侈品比在欧洲贵80%,所以代购服务依然兴旺。这些交易商过去是接受实体订单,现在是接受网上订单,在欧洲购买商品,然后运往中国。与在中国店铺购买相比,这能省很多钱。

In an industry report released last June, researchers at the Geneva-based Exane BNP Paribas said that prices in China and Europe would have to converge as the Chinese luxury market matured. "Chinese luxury demand seems to have been dramatically impacted by foreign exchange rates and the widening price differences between China and the rest of the world," said Luca Solca, managing director and sector head, global luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas. "A larger portion of Chinese consumers spend their luxury dollars abroad — either directly as tourists or indirectly through daigou websites."

在去年6月发布的一份行业报告中,日内瓦的法国巴黎银行证券业务部(Exane BNP Paribas)的研究员们称,随着中国奢侈品市场日渐成熟,中国和欧洲的价格必须更接近。"中国的奢侈品需求似乎受到汇率以及中国和世界其他地方不断扩大的价格差距的极大影响,"法国巴黎银行证券业务部的全球奢侈品管理总监和部门主管卢卡·索尔卡(Luca Solca)说,"有更多中国消费者在国外购买奢侈品——直接通过旅行购物或者通过网上代购。"

More recently, the Chinese government has tried to recapture part of this business, Mr. Solca said, in an effort to increase tax revenues and stem capital outflows.

索尔卡说,最近,中国政府试图对部分代购业务征税,以增加税收收入,阻止资金外流。

"Stricter border controls have been introduced to curb daigou activities and renewed pressure has piled up on European luxury players to reduce the price gap against the Chinese," he said. "More than ever, we expect prices to continue to converge in fiscal year 2016."

"为了遏制代购,中国已推出更严格的边境管制,欧洲的奢侈品商家们在缩小与中国的价格差距方面有了新的压力,"索尔卡说,"我们更加期望,在2016财政年度,价格差距继续缩小。"

Describing the daigou effect as "rather disruptive," Mr. Keith said that the price gap is a liability for brands. "Ultimately, it undermines the trust of the customer in your product."

基思说,代购"很有破坏性",缩小价格差距是品牌的责任,因为价格差距"最终会削弱顾客对产品的信任"。

The digital space is likely to continue to disrupt the Chinese market. Fan Chen, the Beijing-based managing director at the marketing consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners, said she expected more brands to engage Chinese consumers directly online, noting that Burberry opened a store in late 2014 on tmall.com, the business-to-consumer site operated by the Chinese online giant Alibaba.

数字世界很可能会继续瓦解中国市场。市场咨询公司西蒙顾和(Simon-Kucher & Partners)北京公司的总经理陈帆(音译)表示,她预计,会有更多品牌直接在网上吸引中国消费者取,并指出,2014年底,博柏利在天猫上开店。天猫是中国网购巨头阿里巴巴运营的"商对客"(b2c)网站。

Cartier introduced its online shopping site in October, and other brands have made similar moves.

去年10月,卡地亚(Cartier)推出自己的在线购物网站,其他品牌也采取了类似的行动。

"The rapid development of China's mobile e-commerce can certainly, to some extent, promote sales of luxury goods, but more from a marketing perspective," Ms. Chen said. Looking forward, the clout of Chinese brands is likely to grow, she said.

"中国手机电子商务的快速发展无疑在一定程度上促进了奢侈品的销售,但更多地是从市场营销的角度,"陈帆说。她说,展望未来,中国品牌的影响力很可能会增大。

"The current market share of local luxury brands is still relatively small, but it is developing," she said, noting the foundation laid by Chinese brands including Shanghai Tang and Chow Tai Fook, two large Hong Kong-based labels in fashion and jewelry, respectively. "There is still much room for growth for Chinese brands."

"本地奢侈品牌目前的市场份额依然相对较小,但是正在发展,"她说。她提到一些中国品牌已经奠定了基础,比如香港的两大品牌——服装品牌上海滩和珠宝品牌周大福。"中国品牌仍有很大的增长空间。"

Lane Crawford also sees potential in Chinese brands. Its "Created in China" program has served as an incubator and showcase for emerging Chinese fashion brands. The program now features the work of 20 Chinese designers.

连卡佛也看到了中国品牌的潜力。它的"中国创造"项目用于孵化和展示中国的新兴服装品牌。该项目目前拥有20位中国设计师的作品。

"Our Chinese customers are inspired by the new generation of Chinese talent," Mr. Keith said, naming the labels Ms. Min and Comme Moi as top performers. "China for us is really a long-term play."

"我们的中国顾客受到中国新一代人才的启发,"基思说。他提到,Ms. Min和Comme Moi是其中的佼佼者。"我们在中国实施的真的是长期战略。"

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2016-06-22

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