A gentle moderation in China’s headline retail spending growth conceals multiple upheavals beneath the surface. Tastes and shopping habits are in flux as consumers rein in purchases of luxury items overseas, become more discerning at home and prioritise spending on their health, families and experiences, recent studies show.
Overall growth in discretionary spending was likely to continue moderating in March, according to a survey by the FTConfidential Research unit at the Financial Times. This would follow a 10.2 per cent year-on-year growth in retail sales in the first two months of the year, down from a full-year 10.7 per cent in 2015 and 12 per cent in 2014.
In terms of purchasing habits, a significant change is taking place among the hordes of free-spending outbound Chinese tourists, who said they were less likely than previously to buy big-ticket items such as luxury handbags, jewellery and watches while travelling abroad, according to an FTCR survey of 1,318 overseas travellers.