During the May Day holiday just past, 33-year-old Sen Sen chose to travel to Japan.
According to Ctrip's findings, the most popular destination for Chinese citizens to travel abroad this year's May Day is Japan, and coupled with the depreciation of the yen, tourists like Sensen have brought more than 70% more revenue to Japan than the same period last year. In addition to hotel accommodation, luxury shopping is also booming.
Previously, in the first quarter of 2024 financial report released by the luxury group LVMH, Japan became the only market in Asia to record a growth of 32%, and Chinese tourists became the main force of data growth; Kering's core brand GUCCI said in its fourth quarter 2023 performance report that Chinese tourists contributed more than double digits to the Japanese market for the brand, and Hermes Group also achieved a 25% increase in sales in the Japanese market in the first quarter of this year.
Luxury bags seem to have become "specialty" of Japan overnight, and almost everyone in the long tax refund queue has an orange bag.
Before going to Japan, Morimori had planned to relax at a hot spring hotel in Hakone, but when she saw a long line of tourists in front of luxury stores, "it seems like a loss if she doesn't buy."
On May 1 in Ginza, Tokyo, there was a long queue in front of Louis Vuitton stores that turned two corners along the street, and many luxury stores hung up "Sold Out" signs early. Hermès, LV, Dior, Chanel, GUCCI, Cartier and other mainstream brands, popular models quickly sold out, and even Rolex stores were out of stock.
After a long wait, I entered the store and asked the staff directly about the style I wanted, and the answer was "no".
The tension of panic buying pervades the store, and every time a clerk pulls out a new bag from the warehouse, it immediately catches the eye of all customers.
In the footage of local Japanese television, Chinese tourists walking the streets of Japan this holiday are all carrying a number of luxury shopping bags. Many stores not only increase the number of sales staff who can speak Chinese, but also explain the in-store guidance in Chinese.
A netizen's harvest in Japan (courtesy of me)
According to Morimori's observations, due to the depreciation of the yen and holiday (also "Golden Week" in Japan) discounts, the price of some single items is equivalent to 7-9% off in China. A pair of Hermes men's shoes is priced at 8,300 yuan on the official website in China, and can be bought for about 6,000 yuan in Japan. The LV Neverfull medium-sized handbag she wants to buy has a price difference of up to 2,000 yuan between China and Japan.
A Chinese tourist who bought 809,600 yen (about 38,000 yuan) of goods said that it may cost about 900,000 yen (about 42,000 yuan) to buy the same thing in China. In the Japanese media, there is also a Chinese couple who directly said that their shopping budget is an astonishing 10 million yen (about 470,000 yuan).
Not only are well-known luxury goods, but many tourists also find that some domestic brands that are popular, such as Lululemon, Archaeopteryx, Fuji Camera, and Patagonia, are also sold at "cabbage prices" in Japan.
Shinsaibashi, Osaka
Gaby, who works in the financial industry, has gained a lot from this trip to Japan. Five years ago, he went to the Brompton store in the United Kingdom, and at that time he found that there was a huge price difference between the same bicycle at home and abroad. This time, when he was shopping in Daikanyama, Tokyo, he noticed that the price of "small cloth" had plummeted.
After buying the bicycle he wanted, he used a 20-yuan hand-push lever to pack it and "drag" it back to China. "With a set of configurations, the price of this car is about 8,000 yuan cheaper than the domestic price (23,000 yuan for overseas purchases on online shopping platforms). ”
Morimori was not as lucky as Gaby, she and her friends changed their itinerary to Hakone, and took the Shinkansen to visit Kansai Osaka and Wakayama Shirahama-cho, but they knew very well that playing was secondary, and that it was more important to get luxury wool: "I must buy the bag I want this time." ”
After arriving in Osaka, Morimori encountered a long queue again, and the queue in front of the Shinsaibashi store started in one hour: "Most of the time was spent in line, and it made me feel like an old aunt receiving eggs for free." On Xiaohongshu, someone ran three stores in Osaka and Kyoto in a row because they wanted to buy popular models, and each of them got a reply that "it has been out of stock for a long time".
And those who make a beeline for luxury stores as soon as they arrive in Osaka are much luckier. Netizen "Zhang Honey" queued for 1 hour to enter the store, and finally bought an elephant gray LV FAVORITE handbag. THE DAY BEFORE, SHE ALSO GRABBED A BULGARI DIVAS' DREAM NECKLACE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE "RED FAN" AT A PRICE OF 14,500 YUAN AT TAKASHIMAYA IN KYITO, AND THE JEWELRY WAS PRICED AT 19,100 YUAN ON THE DOMESTIC OFFICIAL WEBSITE.
This spree happened a decade ago, when Chinese tourists were also the main spenders of travel in Japan: from rice cookers and toilet seats to beauty and health products. Nowadays, whether it is a smart toilet seat or a talking rice cooker, it is no longer the first choice for Chinese tourists to shop.
Above: A shopping tour next to a tourist bus in Akihabara, Tokyo in 2015
Below: Outside a luxury store in Roppongi, Tokyo, during the same period
On the one hand, with the development of cross-border e-commerce, large Japanese brand daily necessities that used to need to be "human flesh back" can be placed on major domestic e-commerce platforms, and it may not be more cost-effective to purchase in Japan. In addition, similar domestic products are developing rapidly, and they are not lost to Japan in terms of function.
Japanese health supplements, which were once all the rage, are also gradually declining, and some smash hit products have turned out to be nothing more than IQ taxes, and many consumers have lost trust in Japanese products due to the impact of nuclear sewage discharge. However, luxury goods, as a global "hard currency", have a different value in the hearts of consumers.
A commercial shop in Aoyama, Tokyo
Gaby who transported the "small cloth" back to China by hand believes that because the bicycle of 10,000 yuan is a "standard product", if consumers have a certain understanding of the product, the process of shopping in Japan will be relatively simple, and the model and color can be selected, but many after-sales policies, the Japanese clerk can not solve the problem perfectly, and these risks still have to be borne by themselves. "It's just that things are cheaper than domestic, that's all. ”
Another Chinese consumer bought a Fujifilm X-T5 camera for less than 14,000 yuan in Tokyo, prompting her to shop in Japan because the camera was too premium in China and was turned into a "wealth management product" by Shengsheng, with prices even reaching more than 20,000 yuan on many platforms. "If I hadn't come, I would have chosen to buy one in China with some extra money. ”
A new LV store in Tokyo
The domestic May Day holiday has ended, and Sensen, who has not yet returned to China, has changed the focus of his visit to shopping. She shortened her trip to Wakayama Prefecture and rushed back to Tokyo from Kansai. "After the tourists are gone, some stores may have new items coming out," and sure enough, while waiting for her flight at Narita Airport, she finally bought the LV Neverfull bag she had been dreaming of.
The night before returning home, Sen Sen roughly calculated the amount of money spent in Japan, which was about 40,000 yuan. On social platforms, various comments about returning to China and being investigated at customs made her a little worried.
Because many people did not understand the 5,000 yuan tax-free quota for self-use, they generously carried the pearl necklace they bought at Narita Airport, and were required to pay more than 10,000 yuan in taxes when they entered the customs.
"I went to at least half of Japan to buy a bag, praying that I wouldn't be beaten back when I returned home. ”
Interview, Text: Bonsai, Jonas Editor: Sebastian Image from the interviewee and Visual China