China’s coronavirus travel ban drives boom in luxury e-commerce, duty-free shopping
- Though overall consumption remains soft in China, sales are strong on cross-border e-commerce platforms and in the duty-free shopping hub Hainan
- Many global luxury brands have begun adjusting their China strategies, because many Chinese who would normally shop abroad are spending locally
Chinese consumers are buying more foreign goods online and at mainland duty-free stores as international travel restrictions stretch on, prompting global luxury brands to tailor their offerings to get a slice of the local market.
Chen Hua, an immigration consultant from Guangdong, used to travel to Hong Kong and Japan to shop for daily necessities such as laundry detergent and premium cosmetics, sometimes buying enough to last half a year.
But since the pandemic started, she has started shopping on Feelunique and Lookfantastic, e-commerce platforms that carry mid to high-end cosmetic goods mostly from the United States and Europe.
“I think it’s about the same cost and even more convenient than when I shopped in Hong Kong or Japan before the pandemic,” Chen said.
“My friends and I have spent anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of yuan each on these cross-border e-commerce platforms over the past two years … even if we can travel abroad again in the future, I think we will still keep shopping on these platforms.”