奢侈品大幅降价

On lackluster sales, luxury brands in China are offering blockbuster discounts, with Italian luxury brand Gucci the most recent to slash prices. On March 27, Gucci began offering discounts of up to 50 percent at stores across the country. While other brands such as Chanel, Prada, and Dior have also lowered their prices this year, some say that the Gucci price cuts come following Gucci&`&s poor performance last year. Spokespeople for Gucci and the owner of its brand have said that the sales are a normal end-of-season practice, and that the timing of the sale is "similar to past years." One reason luxury brands might be lowering prices this year is that the government has cut import taxes on consumer goods, said Shanghai fashion columnist QuennieY. A report from Millard Brown attributed the falling demand for luxury goods to anti-corruption efforts that dampened official gift giving. Gucci&`&s revenue fell 1.8 percent last year, compared to a year earlier, a financial report said. On the other hand, revenue at other firms rose – Yves Saint Laurent&`&s, for example, rose by 27 percent. The owner of the brand, Kering SA, is expected to reduce inventories and introduce new products. It is unclear whether Gucci&`&s reduced prices were a long-term strategy or only aimed at lowering inventory, said an official at the Ministry of Commerce. The cut might be also be aimed at luring Chinese consumers away from buying luxury products from overseas markets, the official said. In Shanghai, Bloomberg reported, lines formed outside a Gucci store, with some having come four hours before the store&`&s opening. News outlets in Wuhan, Hubei Province, reported long lines of customers waiting to cash in on sales promotions at a Gucci store at the city’s Wuhan International Plaza shopping mall. Chinese consumers spent 9 percent more on luxury goods in overseas markets last year than they did a year earlier, a report from the Bain & Company consulting firm said. The discounts might signal a new norm for cheaper luxury goods in China, allowing consumers to buy goods without having to travel out of the country. For Caixin Online, this is Samuel Liu. 5月27日，古驰（Gucci）在中国多地专柜推出大幅度折扣，部分商品低至五折，且原本仅对VIP会员的折扣优惠，也开始对普通顾客开放。这是继香奈儿、普拉达、迪奥、兰蔻、卡地亚等品牌之后，又一个加入降价大潮的一线奢侈品品牌。 此举动被业内人士解读为“非常罕见”。奢侈品行业资深顾问马凯伦称，夏季是许多奢侈品的折扣季，但往往采取只针对VIP客户的特殊折扣，用以维护客户关系、促进销售业绩同时也不至于影响品牌形象。 6、7月份正是国内奢侈品店采购的时间点，中国国际贸易学会国际品牌管理中心主任许京对财新记者表示，国内奢侈品买手们都在观望，此次降价仅仅是Gucci等短期去库存行为，还是改变国内定价策略的前兆。 许京称，一旦调整价差成为长期的定价策略，海外代购等渠道也就失去了存在的价值，“奢侈品降价是大趋势，但是降到什么程度还有待观察，也许这些奢侈品公司们也在通过降价观察国内市场的需求潜力。”