Luxury goods are being discounted at rates as high as 50 per cent in China as middle-class shoppers rein in spending on big-ticket items and retailers grapple with overstocking.
The discounts in the country are being offered primarily by aspirational brands such as Versace and Burberry, as China’s once-voracious middle-class consumers become more frugal, according to industry insiders and experts.
Those brands had started selling their goods on local ecommerce platforms to capitalise on a boom in luxury spending during the coronavirus pandemic. But the ecommerce companies are now slashing prices to drive traffic in a slow economy.
Marc Jacobs was in early July offering a discount of more than 50 per cent on handbags, clothing and shoes on Tmall Luxury Pavilion, Alibaba’s premium ecommerce platform, while Bottega Veneta was offering a 24-month interest-free loan to purchase bags on the same site.