As China relaxes coronavirus quarantine measures, shoppers are slowly returning to the glitzy malls and boutiques where they’ve been driving growth of the global luxury industry, reported Caixin.
Store traffic in China is creeping back up after falling as much as 80% at the virus outbreak’s peak earlier this winter, hammering sales of brands ranging from Burberry Group Plc to Kering SA’s Gucci. The recovery could accelerate in the coming weeks, fueled by “revenge spending” sprees.
Amrita Banta, managing director at Agility Research, used the term to describe buying by luxury clients whose pockets are flush with cash after weeks of canceled plans. “Revenge spending” was previously coined to describe pent-up Chinese consumer demand unleashed in the 1980s.
“China seems to have turned the corner, and bigger cities are showing cautious optimism,” she said. “We see a slow but definite bounce back.”