Luxury brands to be sold at supermarkets in China
May 24, 2013 Leave a comment
Luxury brands to be sold at supermarkets in China
Staff Reporter
2013-05-23
Luxury goods brands are breaking the confinements of major department stores and boutiques to enter supermarkets in cities across China, reports the Chinese-language Guangzhou Daily. Some experts note that the move is in response to the recent sluggish demand for luxury goods but added that offering discounts on their products and entering the new market may not be enough, the paper said. China’s largest domestic retailer, Lianhua Supermarket, recently began to sell seven brands of luxury products in its outlets, including international brands Gucci, Prada and Armani. A representative of Okaicheng, a luxury brand agent that will help sell the products, said that Lianhua’s decision to sell luxury goods in their stores was based on appealing to the company’s 2 million store-value card holders. In the first two hours of the luxury goods being place on the supermarket shelves, Okaicheng closed six deals, four of which were carried out by store card customers. It’s hard to imagine purchasing high-end items at a supermarket, since many consumers that purchase luxury goods prefer a topnotch shopping environment and experience, a luxury goods salesman told the paper. Ms Li, who often buys luxury brands, said that “Luxury goods are no longer luxury goods once they are sold in a supermarket, they become like oil, rice and salt.” Luxury goods have suffered from sluggish sales in China this year. Fondazione Altagamma, the Italian luxury goods industry trade association, reported recently that due to slowing sales in Europe and the global economic slowdown, luxury-goods sales are expected to grow by only 4%-5% this year, lower than the 5% growth achieved in 2012. The current market climate has led Gucci and Louis Vuitton to slow down the pace of their expansion in China, the Guangzhou Daily said.
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