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Eight Trends To Watch In China’s Luxury Sector

By Dan Harris on Posted in China Business, Recommended Reading

Interesting (and blisffully short and to the point) PowerPoint on luxury goods over at the The China Observer Blog, entitled, “Eight Trends to Watch in China’s Luxury Sector.”  What I found most interesting about the eight trends is that none of them came as much of a surprise to me, and it is not as though I now much at all about luxury goods in China. The eight trends did not come as a surprise because they seem to show that China’s luxury goods consumers are not all that different from luxury goods consumers in most of the rest of the world.

A year or so ago I read an article (wish I could find and link to it) that posited that the elites in most countries around the world have a lot in common with each other and more than they do with the non-elites in their home countries. I buy that and this eight trends PowerPoint seems to be further proof of that. UPDATE: In Feng’s comment below, the “missing” article was provided to us and it can be found here. It is entitled, “The Rise of the New Global Elite.“

Do you agree?

  • Nate

    There might be a lot of articles of suggesting that about elites, here is one of them:
    http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/the-rise-of-the-new-global-elite/8343/

  • Ram

    That is an interesting powerpoint and I concur with your analysis. In other words, China isn’t all that unusual after all.

  • http://www.demohour.com feng
  • ChinaMike

    Hi Dan,
    I have taken a deep dive into the China luxury world over the last 16 months. All of these trends are accurate. I would also add these:
    Multi-brand high-end boutiques will continue to emerge. Owner/operators in China are making decisions on collections to carry from around the world in their own shops. This is especially true with accessories.
    *Chinese luxury buyers are looking for new, unheralded, niche brands. They increasingly want to be trend-setters, not followers. It’s not just the top 20 anymore.
    *Luxury growth in Tier 2 and 3 cities will fuel exponential growth. New wealth creation = new luxury buyers.
    *Luxury travel abroad will grow even more rapidly. The LA, Las Vegas, Chicago, NY, Paris, Rome, London circuit for luxury buying and experiences. More individual v.s group travel.
    *Skin and body care products plus color cosmetics will continue to be a booming business as Chinese women are more independent, empowered and financially able
    As for certain demographics having more in common with their equals abroad. I see that as well. I know that I have more in common culturally and intellectually with a well educated, urbane citizen of the world from Beijing, Milan or Kuala Lumpur than I do with anti-intellectual, mouth breathing xenophobes from the US.

  • http://www.jingdaily.com Yan

    Great slides. Joel definitely knows his stuff. We recently did a wrap-up of some of the major trends in the Chinese luxury industry that gained steam in 2011. Think 2012 will be really interesting, since the days of easy profits for major brands are starting to come to an end: http://www.jingdaily.com/en/luxury/eight-key-trends-that-made-their-mark-in-china-in-2011/