In China and the Asian region as a whole, men play a bigger role in the luxury market. Nearly half of all luxury purchases is done by men and the luxury brands are reorienting their marketing efforts accordingly by targeting the men more directly. The Landmark Mall in Hong Kong saw its basement reorganized as a men oriented shopping hub. The refashioned basement was launched as Landmark Men last week with a runway show featuring actor Louis Koo. The basement boasts of 60,000 square feet of space and it has been taken up for menswear, grooming and gadgets by some of the top brands including Thomas Pink, Gucci, Valentino Men and more.
To understand the China market better for the marketing of luxury products several consulting groups have done surveys and studies. These studies reveal that men represent a bigger share of Asian sales than in other parts of the world. Coach disclosed earlier this year that they sell 45% of its bags to men. That is rather why when compared to the developed luxury markets like the US and Europe. However, the Chinese women’s share of luxury purchase is growing faster and they are not only catching up but have surpassed men for the first time last year.
Bain has released a truly surprising figure. According to them the men in China spent 7 billion Yuan as compared to 2.8 billion spent by women on their wardrobe. Raymond Chow, executive director of commercial property for Hong Kong Land, which owns the Landmark said that the decision to dedicate the space exclusively to men was taken up as early as 2009. The Hong Kong retail scene is dominated by mainland Chinese tourist shopper but Mr. Chow insisted that the mall is aimed at an international clientele. He hopes that men will feel more comfortable in an area which is completely theirs.
Via: blogs.wsj
