BW Confidential - Issue #12 - November/December 2012 - 71

How retailers in Paris, London and New York cater to Chinese shoppers London
China accounted for just under 110,000 visits to the UK in 2010, a 23% annual increase, and the overall spend by Chinese nationals rose by 57%. The following year, the amount spent per Chinese tourist almost doubled (VisitBritain). Annalise Quest, general merchandising manager for beauty and fine jewelery at Harrods tells how the retailer is experiencing a larger footfall of Chinese customers through its doors: “Chinese New Year and Golden Week in October are particularly important times of the year for retailing targeted products, as we see an even larger footfall of Chinese customers through our halls. We maximize trade by implementing targeted marketing and PR strategies, such as creating fun fortune cookies with bounce-back offers to brands and employing Mandarin speakers on the shop floor. We are also one of the only department stores in the country who have introduced Union Pay for Chinese customers where they can use their regular Chinese credit cards in the UK.” This is just the start of a concerted effort, which began in 2011. “We approached brands to launch Asian-specific products at strategic times of the year when we see our Chinese footfall grow. This year, we have already seen most brands tap into this initiative and have set their strategies with the Chinese customer in mind. We will be celebrating Chinese New Year in even more style next year by creating fabulous retail theater on the shop floor, embarking on advertising and PR activities in Chinese publications, as well as marketing initiatives to pull our Chinese customer into the store and encourage them to shop for new and exclusive products targeted to them.” According to Quest, the Chinese beauty consumer “tends to shop more heavily in the cosmetics hall and is looking for new, high-tech skincare, with particular trends coming to the forefront, such as whitening and brightening skincare and BB Creams”. Brands such as SKII and Kanebo are especially popular at Harrods, plus individual product launches such as the new and exclusive Giorgio Armani Luminessence BB Cream or the Guerlain Orchidée Blanc de Perle skincare, which launched this year.

New York
Nearly 1.1 million Chinese visited New York last year, a number that is expected to almost double by 2014. Each is estimated to spend about $6,000 on every visit since shopping is considered the top activity when traveling, according to the US Travel Association. For this reason department store Saks is currently looking at updating their credit card capabilities to accept all forms of payment. “This will make it easy for the customer to travel with any form of debit card. Additionally, we are in the process of creating brochures that will be available in Mandarin and a variety of other languages,” explains Kathleen Ruiz, vice president vendor and store marketing and public relations. This is just part of a bigger effort Saks has taken up to continually ease the experience of shopping for Chinese consumers, like exploring partnerships with luxury Chinese travel companies to understand the needs of the consumer and building programs that will provide unique experiences, such as special access and services. One key initiative for Saks is recruiting multi-lingual associates, able to connect with their affluent foreign customers. They are also looking at the possibility of offering clients tablets (such as iPads) while they shop. “It would assist them in navigating through our store, and allow them to know where to find an associate who can not only help them, but can also speak their language. Most importantly, this tablet can assist with translating. We also have a program in all of our stores that will tailor events to groups we host. Having such programs for our Chinese customer is something we are exploring,” says Ruiz. n
November-December 2012 - N°12 - BW Confidential

Paris Paris is the most visited European city for Chinese travelers, whose numbers have grown from 700,000 in 2009 to 1.1 million in 2011, and are expected to reach 2 million in 2020, according to consultancy McKinsey. Paris attracts even more Chinese visitors than London because of lighter visa restrictions. Chinese spend on average €86.5 compared to Russians’ €78 and Brazilians’ €33.6, according to the first China Travel Retail conference held in July 2012. Marie-Christine Marchives, general manager for LVMH-owned perfumery chain Sephora France, says that since the beginning of 2012, Chinese visitors have grown by more than 30% at Sephora’s Champs-Elysées store standing among the top-10 foreign customers. “For several years Sephora has been adapting to these new customers; we established an agreement with CUP (China Union Pay) to allow Chinese customers to pay via their national credit card and we recruited Mandarin-speaking staff for our top tourist stores. The beauty brands loved by Chinese consumers are already in our top tourist stores and some have a few specific skincare products and make-up brands whose range is suitable for their skin tone and taste.” In addition, major French departmentstore retailers like Galeries Lafayette have been catering successfully to Chinese shoppers for a number of years.
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BW Confidential - Issue #12 - November/December 2012

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