Luxury Goods Sales In Hongkong Fell For 4 Months

In recent years, the per capita consumption of free travellers has dropped, and large sales have basically disappeared, which has a considerable impact on retail sales. At present, even though the number of tourists is still rising, the pace has slowed down. Frankly speaking, the "golden age" of retail industry has passed. "In the 2010-13 years, Hongkong's retail industry has been paying high prices for rent shops and expansion in the" bubble type "growth, but with the decline in sales, these zero sellers' profitability has begun to face challenges.

As report goes, Hong Kong The retail sales figures released in May are 4.1% lower than the same period last year, lower than market expectations. Among them, luxury goods sales fell for fourth consecutive months, down 25% compared to the same period, which is the main reason for dragging down the overall retail performance. The retail industry in Hongkong believes that the data mainly reflect the change of consumption patterns and the weakening of consumption capacity of mainland tourists. Based on a number of uncertainties in the market, including the possible tightening of the free administrative policy, Hongkong's retail industry's first performance in the first half of the year is not ruled out "negative growth" for the first time.

Data from the statistics office of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) showed that the estimated value of total retail sales in May was 39 billion yuan, down 4.1% from the same period last year, which was worse than market expectations and also fell for fourth consecutive months.

A spokesman for the HKSAR government said the decline was mainly caused by a significant decline in sales of jewellery, watches and clocks and gifts. Sales of these luxury goods fell by 24.5% in May, and sales of electrical and photographic equipment fell by 14.3%, data show. Some retail sales reflecting local consumption, including supermarkets, clothing, food, cars and auto parts, rose by about 1%-15%.

　 Hong Kong The chairman of the Retail Management Association, Mr Mae Lai hung, said at a conference call that sales of jewellery and other luxury goods continued to decline. A big reason was that last year the "Chinese aunt rush for gold rush" made the sales base of last May great. If the factors of gold rush were removed, jewellery sales in 2013 did not increase significantly throughout the year.

She also added that sales of jewellery and clocks and other luxury items began to decline in 2012. "At that time, the consumption of each sheet had already dropped, but there was no big drop because of sales volume." In the second half of 2013, retail data began to weaken and expected to weaken faster this year.

Mai also pointed out that in recent years, the per capita consumption of free travellers has dropped, and large sales have basically disappeared, which has a considerable impact on retail sales. At present, even though the number of tourists is still rising, the pace has slowed down. Frankly speaking, the "golden age" of retail industry has passed. "In the 2010-13 years, Hongkong's retail industry has been paying high prices for rent shops and expansion in the" bubble type "growth, but with the decline in sales, these zero sellers' profitability has begun to face challenges. She said.

For the first half of this year, whether retail sales in Hongkong can be stabilized, Mai said that the value of total retail sales in the first 5 months of this year dropped by 0.2%. In June, the 5-6% would only increase if it had to rise by the same time last year. Otherwise, Hongkong will have the first negative growth in retail sales figures in the first half of this year.

"Cloudy days do not pass, nor can we see sunny days so soon." Mai said that at present, many uncertainties still beset Hongkong's retail industry, including the possible tightening of the free administration policy and the slowdown in the mainland economy. However, the forecast of 5% growth is still maintained until June.