Chinese Shoppers SAVED $827 BILLION During Lockdowns Now They’re Ready to Spend It.
As China This eases it Covid restrictions, its residents are headed to their favorite high-end retailers—at least, that’s what luxury companies are hoping.
According to the China Investment Bank, Chinese consumers saved $827 billion (5.6 trillion Yuan) during pandemic lockdowns in the last three years. Bloomberg. As revenge shopping is a popular option, high-end retailers across the globe are searching for cash that they can turn into spending sprees.
Robb Report has more
However, there is no guarantee that shoppers will abandon their savings. While global brands are hoping to see a similar retail boom in China as the one seen in the US, where sales surged past pre-pandemic levels after restrictions lessened, changes to China’s economic landscape may make many across the country hesitant to spend as they did before Covid.
One of those key pandemic shifts was the rising population of jobless Chinese youth—those who live in urban areas are a key demographic for luxury retailers—with the unemployment rate sitting at 16.7 percent in last December, according to Bloomberg. As a result, affluent Chinese parents may be more conservative if they believe their children don’t have a career path, choosing instead to save and pass on their wealth.
But young people haven’t lost hope when it comes to employment. Morgan Stanley reports 82 percent of individuals between 18 and 24 feel “very” or “somewhat” confident they will land a job in the next six months. This is because the government wants to ease its restrictions on big tech and allow foreign companies to enter the market to supply the labor shortage for college graduates.
China had previously one of the strictest. Covid-19 Global policies are being reformed, and although the government has relaxed some policies recently, the market overall was affected. Chinese tourists The Paris and Milan shopping streets have disappeared. Luxury shoppers no longer want to be enticed by brands like Dior or Prada. South Korea Japan, where sales are booming.
It’s still too early to tell whether retail numbers will return to the way they were pre-pandemic, but one thing is for sure: The luxury sector is waiting to see how Chinese consumers will spend their cash.
Register for Robb Report’s Newsletter. Follow us on Twitter for the latest news Facebook, TwitterAnd Instagram.