Luxury goods market is in its infancy in China
14/10/2009
China has a rapidly growing number of wealthy people, a report in the Financial Times (FT) has confirmed.
The newspaper quoted The Hurun Report, a luxury-business research group that publishes a rich-list for China, as saying there are now 825,000 people in the country who have personal wealth of more than 10 million Rmb (around EUR 1 million). The publishers of the rich-list said Chinese consumers are already obsessed with high-end brands, but that their love affair with luxury is only in its infancy.
Analyst firm McKinsey commented that brands looking to use lessons they have learned in the Japanese market on entering China needed to bear in mind that wealthy consumers in China are different.
Most obviously, wealthy consumers in China are between 20% and 30% younger than their Japanese counterparts. Top-of-the-range cars are important objects of desire for wealthy Chinese men, The Hurun Report said, while women at all levels are becoming increasingly passionate about high-end shoes and handbags.
The FT said it was becoming common for women officeworkers in Shanghai to spend an entire month’s salary on one bag or one pair of shoes.
Share this story:
