The new buyers
According to the 16th edition of Bain & Company's annual global luxury study in December 2017, globally Chinese nationals purchased 32 percent of personal luxury goods in 2017. The study also pointed out that China's rapid rise of luxury product sales is mainly driven by millennial consumers. To glean insight into the shopping preferences and consumption habits of Chinese millennials, the Global Times recently interviewed a number of local shoppers born after the 1990s or 2000s.
Huang Yibei, 26, moved to Shanghai as a white-collar worker after graduating from a university in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province. Huang told the Global Times that most luxury items she purchases are handbags, skincare products and cosmetics.
"Since I started to earn money by myself after graduating, I wanted to buy high-end brands to reward myself," she said.
Zhang Ke also from Hangzhou, is only in his third year of middle school but told the Global Times that he started to buy luxury brand clothes when he was just 12 years old.
"My parents run a clothing business and shop at high-end malls. That's how I began to know lots of big brands," Zhang told the Global Times.
Wang Chenchen, 27, is based in Shanghai but studied in the US during her undergraduate years. "I started to buy luxury products in the US. I love fashion and love shopping," she said. "When I see something I love, I buy without hesitation."
She feels that luxury products can bring her joy and happiness. "Shopping makes me happy. When I earn some money through my own work, I am willing to buy some luxury products as a treat for myself," she explained.
Veronica Wang, associate partner of OC&C Strategy Consultants, told the Global Times that there is an increasing willingness to spend on luxury items among younger Chinese, even if they cannot afford it.
"We also see a growing preference for niche luxury brands instead of traditional brands. In retailing trends, we see a growing strategic play of online with offline channels, which serve to reinforce each other, as this generation does online and offline research and then seeks the best price," she said.
Acceptable amount
In terms of how much a person spends per year on luxury products, all of our interviewees said that 10 to 20 percent of their annual income is acceptable.
"I think as long as you can afford the items you want, it doesn't matter whether you purchase them with your savings or a credit card," Huang told the Global Times.
Wang Chenchen added that she tends to spend 500,000 yuan ($78,628) every year on luxury products, all which is money from her own income. But she suggested that it really depends on a person's personal financial condition.
"For me, I believe the amount of money people spend on luxury items should not exceed one's income, and should not add extra financial burdens," she said.
Unlike Huang and Wang, who use their own income to buy stuff, middle school student Zhang said all the money he spends comes from his parents.
"They are quite supportive, as they think this can cultivate my fashion sense at an early stage of life," he said, adding that many of his peers buy expensive brands with money also coming from their parents.
But Zhang said he only buys things that cost under 20,000 yuan. "I don't have any mental burden or guilt under this amount," he clarified.
