Mainland shoppers divided by different tastes for luxury
Chinese seasoned travellers most likely to buy premier brands in the city, while novice buyers seek mass luxury brands, according to survey
Buying patterns differ sharply among mainland shoppers in Hong Kong, according to a recent survey by market research company Nielsen.
The number of mainland visitors to Hong Kong annually is more than four times the city's population, and visitor arrivals have been growing by about 23 per cent a year. Most of their expenditure is on shopping.
Last month, Nielsen polled 600 mainland visitors to Hong Kong, evenly split between so-called seasoned and novice travellers.
Seasoned travellers, defined as those who come from top tier cities such as Beijing, have visited Hong Kong more than once and stay longer on each trip, are more likely to buy premium brands, such as Hermes and Chanel, the survey showed. Novice travellers, those from second-tier cities such as Chengdu, are first time visitors to Hong Kong and stay for a shorter period, are more likely to shop for mass luxury brands such as Burberry and Gucci.
"The seasoned [mainland] travellers treasure the trustworthiness and uniqueness of the product much more than the novice travellers," who are attracted by the cheaper prices in Hong Kong relative to the mainland, said Oliver Rust, managing director, Nielsen Hong Kong.
Broken down by categories, seasoned travellers from the top-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, each spent more than HK$10,000 on handbags or HK$17,000 on watches or HK$4,000 on cosmetics or HK$6,000 on electronic products on average per visit, according to the survey.