Gucci, Ralph Lauren and other labels join voucher schemes at Hong Kong luxury malls

Luxury malls are offering vouchers to shoppers to encourage them to spend more, but much of their cost is borne by the brands at whose stores they spend them

Premium fashion houses do not usually offer discounts to avoid devaluing their brand, but if they refuse vouchers they risk losing sales to rivals, analysts say

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Luxury labels such as Gucci are taking part in some of Hong Kong’s cash coupon redemption programmes to boost sales during the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Antony Dickson

Published: 12:15pm, 28 Apr 2021Updated: 12:24pm, 28 Apr 2021

It’s a typical day at the Gucci store in Times Square, in the busy Causeway Bay shopping district on Hong Kong Island, where people queue for as long as five hours to buy the luxury label’s bags, clothes and shoes.

Long lines have also formed in front of the other boutiques in the upscale shopping centre – for stores it’s an encouraging sight amid the Covid-19 retail slump.

The queues are down to some of the city’s premium shopping centres holding massive cash coupon redemption programmes to attract customers. They come after border restrictions and compulsory quarantine, imposed to keep the coronavirus at bay, put a pause on high-spending mainland Chinese shoppers travelling across the border.

The promotions, however, have left luxury brands caught between a rock and a hard place.

Customers line up at Gucci in Times Square, Hong Kong. Photo: Antony Dickson

To avoid devaluing their brand, most premium fashion houses typically do not offer discounts. During the current crisis, however, brands that refuse to accept and give out cash coupons risk losing market share to their competitors, market analysts say.