Mainland Chinese travellers prefer brand boutiques over airport duty free stores when buying luxury goods according to a new survey – but the difference is close.

 

A new survey from market information and measurement company, Nielsen, shows that 26% of respondents would choose brand stores, followed by 24% who selected airport duty-free stores when buying luxury items. Of the five key categories that travellers look for, accessories tops the list (see table).

 

PRC Chinese also prefer Hong Kong and South Korea as destinations for shopping, followed by Macau and Japan, although this varies depending on which part of China travellers come from (see below).

 

The data are based on Nielsen’s Mainland Chinese Luxury Shopper survey which polled 1,005 Internet respondents in August from four segmented geographic regions. The study provides insights on shopping and spending behaviours across the most commonly shopped categories and key destinations.

 

ONLINE = FIRST & CRUCIAL TOUCH-POINT

Travel retailers and brands focused on luxury might need to review – and increase – their online presence if they want to keep their share of sales to mainland Chinese travellers based on the Nielsen survey results related to the web.

 

Over 60% of respondents are planning their luxury purchases by going online and they have visited social media platforms and reviewed users’ recommendations online as the main information source for their scheduled purchase.

 

Additionally, a very high 90% of Chinese travellers have planned their luxury goods purchase prior to travel which means that many have already made their buying decisions, including where to purchase, before they have left the country.

 

“Among mainland luxury shoppers with high engagement with online platforms, there is an opportunity for marketers to create targeted brand awareness programmes by advertising on blogs and forums to maximise the reach to their potential consumers,” says Eva Leung (right), Managing Director of Nielsen Hong Kong and Macau.

 

Leung adds that that a better understanding on Chinese travellers’ luxury perceptions and their purchase planning are “critical for any organisations nowadays targeting Asian markets”, especially the Chinese who represent a significant part of the worldwide luxury market and who spend three times more when they travel, than when at home.

 

Of the 90% of Chinese travellers who have planned their luxury goods purchase prior to travel, nearly four out of ten (38%) know exactly which products they wanted to buy. Websites of the luxury brands (50%) and social media pages (49%) are the first source of information.

 

The report also shows high awareness on luxury e-commerce with 77% of respondents knowing those websites selling luxury items and 45% of respondents having bought luxury items online, and 48% considering it.

 

Six out of 10 (59%) of mainland travellers said they enjoyed the ease of browsing-through different collections online while of those who already bought online or who are ready to try, 90% said they will buy luxury goods online in the next 12 months.

 

TRAVEL PATTERNS

According to Nielsen’s findings, Chinese travellers have gone overseas three times over the past 12 months. Respondents from South China are likely to travel more (nearly 4 times) than those from other regions.

 

Respondents from North China preferred travelling to South Korea and Japan, while respondents from the South were more present in Hong Kong and Macau. Travellers from Chengdu went more to Thailand over the last 12 months.

 

Concerning the purposes of travel, shopping (97%) is the key activity, higher even than sightseeing/ visiting (84%). Entertainment such as theme parks, theatre and musicals (72%) are also important factors for going overseas.