Not every Chinese shopper can buy their Prada in Paris or their Max Mara in Milan.
As China’s middle class swells, foreign and domestic retail groups are opening discount outlet malls in China to help mainlanders get luxury bargains closer to home – preferably while pretending that they are really somewhere else.
Value Retail, the European discount luxury outlet chain, says three out of four Chinese tourists to the UK visit its Bicester Village outlets in southern England, making it one of the top destinations for Chinese visitors to the UK. Moreover, visitors from greater China spend more per transaction than shoppers from any other country.