Louis Vuitton is the most desired luxury brand in China, according to a list by Bain & Company, that ranks Chanel and Gucci second and third. Despite the omnipresence of those tired names, the retail and luxury landscapes are diversifying. According to this Global Times piece, Chinese are becoming more selective, focusing on style rather than merely the perceived status of a brand, and CNN reports that many Chinese luxury consumers don’t care about brand name at all, prioritizing the shopping experience.
More and more, luxury buying will be happening beyond conventional shopping centers.
Fifth ranked brand, Armani is launching the first online store by a luxury brand that is tailored exclusively for the Chinese market. Still more interestingly, China Duty Free Group (CDFG) has opened China’s the largest Duty Free Shop in Sanya. This should become one of the main attractions at China’s number one luxury resort destination. Will this mean Chinese no longer must visit Paris to get their brand-fix at a reasonable price or will the mark-up be higher than in other mainland shopping centers? It might not matter. According to my friend who manages a major hotel on Sanya’s Yalong Bay, most guests are government officials and their families visiting on the dime of business partners. A shopping budget for this new duty-free store might become part of the standard Sanya “package”. What would luxury and hotel brands do without the special relationship between officialdom and business?
