Recent consumer surveys show that Chinese shoppers are more focused on premium everyday necessities, which is influencing how they make purchasing decisions abroad. A survey conducted by the FTConfidential Research unit at the Financial Times found that Chinese shoppers are more likely to avoid discretionary spending, especially when it comes to high-end fashion accessories like handbags, jewelry, and watches. This marks what the FT calls an ?upheaval? in consumer spending patterns overseas, which is happening in tandem with changing habits at home.
Chinese shoppers overseas are avoiding discretionary spending and instead sticking to premium essentials, according to the FT. (Shutterstock)
According to an article published in FT last month, there was ?a 10.2 per cent year-on-year growth in retail sales in the first two months of the year, down from a full-year 10.7 per cent in 2015 and 12 per cent in 2014.? Their survey asked 1,318 overseas Chinese tourists about their spending habits, and while they reported ?they were less likely than previously to buy big-ticket items such as luxury handbags, jewelry and watches while traveling abroad,? they expressed interest in spending on cosmetics, clothing, electronics, and souvenirs, similar to results from a year before. FT?s explanation for the reduced discretionary spending on high-end items like jewelry, watches, and handbags abroad is, in part, the rising reliance on cross-border e-commerce coupled with the fact that domest...