【英语中国】进军中国奢侈品市场应在中小城市挖潜

Bruno Lannes / Weiwen Han

With the explosive growth of its middle class and the ranks of high-wealth individuals, mainland China is seeing an equal boom in the thirst for luxury goods like watches, handbags and perfume. Now the world's second-largest market for luxury brands, China could unseat Japan for the top spot within a few years. But first foreign brands must build a market from scratch in the second- and third-tier cities where much of the growth is expected to occur.

Consumers in cities like Zhuhai, Shaoxing and Wuxi are estimated to have accounted for more than 60% of the growth in China's luxury buyers in 2008 and 2009, according to a recent Bain & Company study. China boasts at least 120 cities with populations exceeding one million, and consumers in these secondary cities have the buying power of shoppers in China's largest urban centers. But foreign companies hoping to capture this market are running into hurdles trying to match supply with demand.

The first major problem is staffing. Luxury brands sell consumers in part on a certain lifestyle idea, and it's important for sales staff to understand what the customers are aspiring to in buying the product.

One company whose chief executive participated in our survey discovered recently that most of its sales managers outside China's biggest cities had never experienced such niceties as a luxury spa or upscale restaurant. They weren't equipped to understand what it felt like to be served as a luxury customer. So the company began sending its employees to an upscale hotel for two-week stints so they could 'experience a life of luxury,' according to the chief executive.

Some luxury companies recruit for sales trainees at China's top universities. And to keep employees in smaller cities from abandoning jobs on the sales floor for office work -- generally considered more prestigious in China -- companies have started offering international rotations as an inducement not to look for jobs elsewhere.

Then there's the need for luxury brands to differentiate themselves in a crowded field. China's high-end market is highly fragmented, with no single brand dominating individual product categories. This is starting to change: In each luxury-goods category, five brands account for around 50% of the market, indicating early signs of concentration. The key here will be brand-building.

Weaker brands already are finding it tough to compete with the likes of Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Hermes or Gucci, which have advertised for years to build name recognition. Companies also have to remember that recognition in one part of the country won't necessarily translate elsewhere. For example, watchmaker Rolex started in the South of the country near Hong Kong and built strong positions there. But when it moved into the Northern provinces, it had to invest heavily in print ads, events and in-store displays to reach its new customer base.

And there's another nagging fact of life in China's luxury market: Chinese consumers make more luxury purchases abroad than at home. In 2008, mainland stores rang up only 40% of all luxury sales made to Chinese consumers. Prices are simply lower abroad, especially given China's stiff duties on luxury imports, and shoppers find a better selection.

So companies have to cultivate customer loyalty both at home and abroad. Some have built databases of VIP shoppers so they can track their best customers even when they're shopping in places like Hong Kong or Singapore, and alert employees to give them top-notch service. Skilled store managers use data about these best customers' preferences to develop personalized relationships, offering everything from personal shoppers to advance notice of off-season sales to perks like free product maintenance.

All that said, there are still also many opportunities to go alongside the challenges. The Internet is a big chance to reach new customers. While fewer than 10% of Chinese consumers do their luxury-goods shopping online, some companies have launched websites to appeal to shoppers who use the Internet to research luxury products before buying -- a group of shoppers that has grown 30% since 2006, according to our research. Cosmetics company Lancome launched an online community, 'Lancome Rose Beauty,' in 2006. The e-commerce site now reaches consumers in hundreds of smaller cities in China where Lancome doesn't have a store, and claims four million subscribers.

Rising prosperity promises to make China a booming market for luxury goods for years to come. But before top-end brands can sell to those consumers they'll need to reach them. That means crafting effective strategies to branch out of the coastal cities into the places where the vast majority of China's people live -- and shop.

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Bruno Lannes / Weiwen Han

随着中国中产阶级队伍和富翁人数急速膨胀，中国大陆在手表、手袋及香水等奢侈品上的市场需求也随之激增。现在中国是全球第二大奢侈品市场，并可能在未来几年就将现在排名第一的日本市场拉下马。不过，外国品牌首先需要在中国的二、三线城市从无到有地为自己打下一片天地，因为销售增量将大多来自这些地方。

贝恩公司(Bain & Company)近期的研究显示，2008年和2009年中国新增的奢侈品买家估计有六成以上来自珠海、绍兴和无锡等城市。中国自称至少有120个城市的人口超百万，且这些二线城市的消费者购买力丝毫不亚于中国最大型中心城市的消费者。但希望占领这一市场的外国公司在努力满足供求关系时却遇到了障碍。

第一个主要问题是员工。奢侈品牌在一定程度上向消费者推销的是一种特定的生活方式和理念，因此销售人员必须理解客户在购买这些产品时诉求是什么，这一点十分重要。

某公司的首席执行长参与了我们的调查。这家公司近期发现，除几个最大城市的销售经理之外，公司在中国其它城市的大多数销售经理从未体验过豪华温泉浴或高档饭店的美妙感受。他们无法理解作为尊贵客户得到服务时是什么样的感觉。这家公司的首席执行长说，于是公司开始送员工到一家高档酒店中享受两周以使他们能够体验奢侈的生活。

部分奢侈品公司在中国最好的大学中招募销售实习生。为了让较小城市的员工不会放弃销售工作以寻找在中国更受众人尊敬的办公室工作，一些公司开始提供轮流到各国工作的机会以吸引员工不跳槽。

在这个拥挤的市场中，奢侈品公司需要走差异化路线。中国高端市场的竞争非常激烈，没有一个品牌在单一产品市场中占据主导地位。但现在这一现象正开始改变：每个奢侈品类别均有五个品牌占据了50%左右的市场份额，预示着出现了早期的集中化迹象。品牌塑造是中国市场的关键所在。

竞争力稍弱的品牌已发现很难与卡地亚(Cartier)、路易威登(Louis Vuitton)、爱马仕(Hermes)和古驰(Gucci)之类的品牌竞争，后者已做了多年的宣传，打造了品牌知名度。各公司还须记得在中国的某一地区获得消费者的认可并不一定也能在其它地区获得成功。例如，手表制造商劳力士(Rolex)从靠近香港的华南地区起步并在那里打造了牢固的市场地位。但进军北方省份时，却不得不斥重资印制广告、举办活动并加大店内展示力度以打动新的客户群。

中国奢侈品市场还有另一个无法改变的事实：中国消费者在国外购买的奢侈品多于国内。2008年，中国消费者购买的所有奢侈品中仅有40%是从中国内地的店铺购买的。奢侈品在海外的售价较低，特别是鉴于中国对奢侈品进口课以重税，内地与海外的奢侈品价差更为明显，且消费者在国外的店铺中有更多的选择。

因此公司必须在中国内地和海外两个市场中培养客户对品牌的忠诚度。部分公司已经创建了重要客户数据库，这样即使当公司的最优质客户在香港和新加坡等地购物时，公司也能识别出他们并提醒员工给予其最顶级的服务。经验丰富的店铺经理使用有关数据了解这些最优质客户的偏好以发展私人关系，为其提供各种服务，如私人购物顾问，预先通知淡季促销消息，提供产品免费保养等额外优惠。

虽然如此，仍有许多机会与挑战并存。互联网是接触新顾客的一个好方法。尽管不到10%的中国消费者在网上购买奢侈品，一些公司已经创办了网站吸引那些在购物前用互联网搜索奢侈品的消费者。我们的研究表明，自2006年起，此类消费者增加了30%。化妆品公司兰蔻(Lancome)于2006年创办了网上社区──兰蔻玫瑰社区(Lancome Rose Beauty)。现在这个电子商务网站影响到了兰蔻没有开设门店的中国数百个中小城市中的客户。兰蔻号称这个网站的订户达400万。

中国经济的不断繁荣注定使中国在未来的很多年里成为快速发展的奢侈品市场。但顶级品牌在向中国的消费者出售商品之前需要先接触他们。这意味着奢侈品公司需要制订有效的策略从沿海城市向广大中国人居住并购物的二、三线城市进军。