Luxe beauty brands ready price hikes

The arrival of 2013 heralds a round of price hikes for global luxury beauty brands in China such as Chanel and SK-II, and an SK-II Beijing counter salesperson surnamed Wu told the Global Times Thursday that the company's price increase is scheduled for Friday.

Starting Friday, some 80 percent of SK-II products will be priced 30 percent higher in all Chinese shops, said Wu.

Other global luxury brands may see similar price hikes.

A Chanel staff member in China told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that big brands like Chanel tend to raise their prices at the beginning of every year.

"The company is scheduled to raise prices in China by 10 percent on January 15, which is higher than the price hikes in other countries due to high Chinese tariffs on luxury products," she said, noting that prices will go up worldwide.

A salesperson surnamed Wang from a Beijing Dior counter told the Global Times Thursday that nationwide price increases of 10 to 20 percent are coming sometime in February.

According to a report about China's luxury market released by the US consulting firm Bain & Company on December 12, Chinese consumers bought 25 percent of the luxury goods sold worldwide in 2012.

Luxury brands have to keep increasing prices to maintain their brands' perceived value and enhance domestic consumers' loyalty, and other peers will immediately follow in the footsteps of Chanel and SK-II, Wu Zhigang, chief marketing consultant at Beijing-based cosmetics consulting company Beautway, told the Global Times Thursday.

"If Chanel or Dior ever lowered their prices, I would be disappointed in them and consider purchasing other brands," Pei Lei, a Shanghai resident who once studied in the US and loves to purchase luxury goods from abroad, told the Global Times Thursday.