China's Luxury Market Suffered A "Cold Spell" Last Year

In the eyes of a luxury luxury brand executive, it is not too bad to describe it with "cold current".

The recent 2014 China luxury market research, released by Bain, a world-renowned management consulting firm, confirms this. The report points out that the luxury market in mainland China has experienced negative growth for the first time.

Bain provided the complete report to reporters, which shows that compared with 2013, China's luxury market dropped by 1% in 2014.

This has been attributed to the overall situation of slowing economic growth and the Chinese government's persistent anti-corruption campaign in the past two years. The insiders and researchers interviewed approved the above views, but they also expressed optimism about the market situation this year.

Bruno lenner, Bain's global partner and 2014 report writer, said China's luxury market is undergoing fundamental changes. He expects to achieve more conservative growth this year.

It is half a month away from the lunar new year, which is the most exciting time in the shopping mall. But this year the situation is quite different.

"Our passenger flow has probably fallen by 50% to 60% this year." A famous man's luxury brand store manager told reporters that before the Spring Festival approached, there were a lot of people in the shop. Sometimes the salesmen could not greet them, and the people came to buy more than ten pieces from time to time.

In February 1st, Beijing In a Zhuo Exhibition Center, almost all luxury stores are deserted. Near the Spring Festival this Sunday afternoon, most stores still do not see customers. Occasionally, customers who go shopping in the store will greet them with great courtesy and cautiously change their past arrogance.

"The company has trained specially for this purpose, how to retain the guests who enter the store, what steps have been taken?" The young manager regrets.

In fact, the cold wave that permeates the Chinese luxury market, the world's largest luxury consumer market, has long spread. Bain's recent two annual reports clearly show this.

In 2013, the flagship store of Armani (Armani), located in Shanghai the Bund 3, was closed for nearly ten years, and Patek Philippe (Patek Philippe) and Boucheron (Boucheron), which were not far away from it, also withdrew.

The growth rate of China's luxury market in 2014 was -1%, and in 2013 it was only 2%. In 2012 and 2011, the figure was 7% and 30% respectively.

In the declining performance, watches and men's clothing products are still the hardest hit areas. This trend, which appeared in 2013, is still very evident in 2014. The bain report points out that the closure of stores is also mainly concentrated on men's wear brands. In 2014, men's clothing and watches continued to decline, especially in high priced products.

In mid 2014, the earnings of luxury brands also showed weakness in sales in China.

In the first half of the year, the world's second largest luxury goods group, which sells jewelry and watches, reported that its net income in the Chinese market dropped by 4%. Italy luxury brand Prada (Prada) disclosed that its net profit in the first half of the year was also 21% lower than that in the same period last year. The profit of Remy Martin R (Cointreau my) in the first half of the year has also declined by 14.6%. The group clearly stated that the decrease in profit margin was mainly affected by the reduction of inventory in the Greater China region.

In the industry's view, it has appeared in China in the past two years. luxury goods market The above changes are not surprising.

Honorary Advisor of China luxury alliance, vice president of China Venture Capital Zhang Ying Ying In an interview with reporters, luxury goods after entering China, along with the rapid development of China's economic growth, there is bound to be a period of growth easing.

"The decline in China's market performance is expected, and in the past few years there has been a substantial increase. It is impossible to maintain such a strong trend. Now it is gradually becoming stable." Zhang Peiying said.

Lu Xiaoze, a high-end consumer behavior and luxury brand management expert at Fudan University, told reporters that he should not overread the negative growth of China's luxury market, which is a normal phenomenon under the new normal.

"According to my analysis and analysis, the real consumption demand of China's luxury market has been increasing, and it is a positive growth. The negative statistics of Bain's statistics are due to the fact that" three public consumption "has been mistaken for real consumption demand all the time. Lu Xiao said.