Hongkong's Retail Industry Is Not Frozen For One Day, But The Rent Continues To Adjust.

Hongkong has not only the reputation of "shopping paradise", but also the local rental of shops. Tongluowan Russell street has been the most expensive retail area in the world for several years, far exceeding the Fifth Avenue in the United States and Champs Elysees in Paris, France, but this ranking is expected to change soon. As the sales volume of Hongkong's overall retail industry, especially luxury goods, has declined sharply this year, there has been an inflection point in the rental of shops.

Rent adjustment lasted for one or two years.

Media recently discovered in Tongluowan that a famous chain jewellery brand shop is crowded, and there are only employees chatting in empty shops. Another shop next to it has pulled the iron gate due to the expiration of the lease. A Swiss watchmaker, Jaeger Le Coulter shop, has become a local discount cosmetics store in Tongluowan. Coach flagship store, located in the most prosperous area of central Hongkong, also changed hands in September, leased out two years in advance, instead of sports brand Adidas. According to the report, the rental of ADI is only 60% of the previous one.

Senior people say Hongkong Retail The most affected ones are high-end jewellery, watches and high-end consumer goods, and the decline is the most serious. As retail sales continue to fall, the overall rent decline in Hongkong will reach 15% to 20% this year, while some of the better locations will fall even more, for example, Tongluowan's decline may exceed 40%. Hongkong rents have basically fallen back to the level from 2011 to 2012.

Retail sales are not booming, and the rental of shops is bound to be affected. Some people in the industry say that the adjustment of the rental of Hongkong shops will last for at least 1 to 2 years.

Double demand for traffic and shopping

The report of the census and Statistics Department showed that the total retail sales value of the total retail sales in the first 8 months of 2015 dropped by 2.2%. Lin Zhiting, director general of Hongkong tourism employees association, said that the mainland's "eleven" golden week has been talked about by retail businesses, that is, "clean water flying geese". It is very cold and cheerless. On the one hand, the flow of tourists is decreasing, and on the other hand, the willingness of tourists to buy is greatly reduced.

The word "retail cold winter" has become a common term used by Hongkong media, industry people and even government officials, as if Hongkong's retailing industry returned to the "SARS" dilemma in 2003. A spokesman for the Hongkong Special Administrative Region government said it was partly due to a slowdown in travel to Hong Kong. The recent surge in the stock market may also weaken consumer desire. Chen Shuling, vice president of the Chinese manufacturers' Association of Hongkong, said that the retail market was much worse than the "SARS" period. A series of unfriendly incidents appeared in Hongkong, which affected mainland tourists to come to Hong Kong. Retail brand It is not good to set up shop directly in the mainland.

"There is no denying that there is a big problem in the retail industry." Lei Ming Ming, Dean of Economics Department of Hong Kong University Science & Technology, recently wrote in the column of "sunny newspaper", "the total retail value from January to July this year is 283 billion 150 million yuan (HK dollars, the same below), which is 1.8% lower than that of the same period last year, and the total number of retail goods has increased by 1.7%. This reflects the problem: the number of goods sold is much, but the amount of money received is reduced, which means that even if we use the means of price reduction and sales promotion, we can not help the turnover."

The reason why retailers encounter "Hong Kong embarrassing"

Chen Shuling pointed out that more than 10 years ago, the retail industry in Hongkong was mainly driven by the consumption of local residents. But now the mainland market is largely dependent on the mainland tourists.

Some analysts say retail sales in Hongkong have been cold this year and are not tied to changes in consumption patterns. At the beginning of the return of Hong Kong and Macao, it became the first stop for many mainland residents to go abroad for sightseeing. With the increasing convenience of overseas travel, the "first stop" and transfer functions have weakened, and the peak of free travel to Hong Kong has quietly passed. In many areas of Hongkong, there has been a street mode of "pharmacy, gold shop, watch shop and cosmetics store". The inherent attractions such as Victoria Harbour, Ocean Park, Disney Park and so on have not made any breakthroughs. Therefore, more consumers choose to buy some cheap goods in Hongkong and buy goods in Europe instead of high priced goods in Hong Kong. Because with the depreciation of the euro, buying in Europe is about 15% cheaper.

Lei Dingming believes that the retail industry is in a slump. If this trend continues, Hongkong's low unemployment rate will be out of control. This is definitely not the blessing of Hongkong. The retail industry in Hongkong is suffering from "Hong Kong embarrassing", and other industries are hard to get the best of it.

Hearsay reclaims expansion of freedom

Faced with the slump in the market, the government of Hongkong has launched many measures. For example, the Tourism Development Bureau ($300 million) was publicized, and at the beginning of this year it increased by 80 million yuan, especially as a means to promote consumption and tourism promotion. In addition, it has set up a tourism matching fund of 10 million yuan. However, these measures are much more effective in propaganda and have no real impact.

There are persistent rumours in the retail sector that the government intends to reintroduce the expansion of the free travel plan by the end of the year or early next year. Ouyang Xiongwan, vice president of Hongkong China Import and Export Chamber of Commerce, said that the influence of mainland China on Hongkong is growing, which is inseparable from the performance of Hongkong's retail industry. "More and more mainland tourists are coming to Hongkong to help Hongkong's retail industry."

Some Hongkong manufacturers saw opportunities for the mainland to develop e-commerce. Chen Shuling said that Hongkong people are very aware of the flexibility, and now the mainland's Internet O2O and Electronic Commerce Hongkong's retailers should seize the opportunity to cope with the new environment. She believes that retail sales in Hongkong are experiencing a low tide, but can not be changed because of low tide.