Exchange rate:
1 USD = 7.3 RenMinBi (RMB) or Chinese Yuan
1 RMB = PhP 6.67
I soooooooooooooooooo hate shopping! And it so happen that in my recent vacation trip to Beijing, the tour guide set us out to not one but FOUR shopping tours in and around Beijing! The first expedition is to a 168 like tiangge type of mall, the second and the last shopping expeditions is at WangFujing (王府井), Beijing’s premier shopping district and the second most popular shopping district in all of China next to Shanghai’s Nanjing East Road while the third shopping destination is to a Jade Factory en route going to the Great Wall. Anyway, good thing for me is that I am an avid book lover and Wangfujing has one of the largest Chinese book store in Beijing, Xin Hua Bookstore (新華書店, which happened to have a branch here in Manila however, their book collection here in the Philippines sucks). The book store is also one of my favorite places in Beijing. In spite of that, I didn’t spend all of my “allotted” shopping time in the book store. This is because my sister is with me and like most women, she do like to shop, or more precisely, window shop. So, I struck a deal with her (on our second shopping expedition). I get to spend the first half of the allotted 2 hours of shopping time to buy my books (which I did! Bought 7 books for 341 RMB; Great deal!). Other than that, in most shopping expeditions where there is no book store in sight, I had to “endure” shopping. It is not that I dread shopping so much because it is “shopping” (as in the act itself) rather one of the reasons that I don’t like shopping at all aside from the fact that it is quite boring, (I really wonder why some people would find shopping an enjoyable experience, in fact, I strongly doubted that the word “enjoyable” is by any means a proper adjective for shopping) is the fact that I tend to “analyze” the business. Unlike most mortals who see the glittering store front, the merchandise on sale, and the price tag, I on the other hand, see business models, marketing positioning, merchandising policy, and overall business strategy (and of course, the beautiful sales ladies but that is a different matter). As a matter of fact, this window – shopping spree in Beijing has afforded me an insight into the Made in China products and brands (mostly fashion apparels). On our first shopping expedition right after landing in Beijing, the tour guide, Lionel bought us to San Li Tun Yashow Clothing Market (三里屯雅秀服裝市場?), a tiangge like mall near the San Li Tun Embassy Area. At that time, I really don’t have any appetite to endure the 2 hour shopping spree at the tiangge mall, so my siobe (little sister) and I decided to skip the tiangge or the bargain mall in favor of window shopping at the next door, ultra “modern” shopping mall. Incidentally, speaking of bargain hunting in one of China’s tiangge, this activity isn’t for everybody especially not for the faint – hearted ones. Bargain hunting in China is only for the prodigious ones. This is because bargain hunting in China is so incredulous and damn outright, a rip – off! Take for instance one of our fellow tour mates, she bought a hand bag in the San Li Tun Mall that is selling for 300RMB, which is very expensive but she was able to bargain it to 50RMB! Despite that, that particular tour mate of ours felt that she was cheated because she felt that she could have bought it for 30RMB. In another incident, I pick up this 2 set music CDs of Chinese classical music in a boutique shop. The sales lady quoted me a price of 200RMB but immediately and voluntarily lowered it to 150RMB. At 150RMB, that is something like PhP1000. Naturally, I balked at lofty price tag and had the good sense to back out from it and during my brief stopover at Shanghai on my way back to Manila, I discovered that the same CD set is selling at 88RMB right inside the airport! Outrageous, simply, outrageous! It seems that the bargaining’s rule of thumb (in China) of offered price divided by 2 and then less 10% afterwards in order to get the fair price is no longer reliable at all. Anyway, back at the next door, ultra modern shopping mall. I find the place really nice and it should be, considering the huge number of expensive brand - stores that had opened shop in it. And this is what really surprises me. It is not the sheer number of expensive brands – outlet store that I’d seen in this mall and in some other places in Beijing (most notably Wangfujing) and the rest of China as well that surprise me but the fact that this huge number of expensive brands could co – exist! I mean in a “small” market, one expensive luxury brand is just one too many in a crowd but having ALL the major luxury brands to co – exist in China speaks volume about the size of the luxury market here. It is said that the Chinese are zealous consumer of luxury since ancient time. This is due in large part of the cultural concept of “Face” (面子). As the saying goes, one can lose everything but not the “Face”. If your peers drives a car, you better have one as well else you stand to lose face. Furthermore, you don’t simply just going to have a car. You must have a car brand that matches with your peers’ car brands as well if not better. No wonder, China is the world’s fastest growing luxury market. It is funny however because a few years back during my last trip to Shanghai – Beijing. My tour guide then told me that the Chinese government imposes a hefty 40% consumption tax on luxury goods (verification needed). It was so hefty that local Shanghai Chinese felt that it is much cheaper to actually take a plane to Hong Kong and buy the luxury item in question and came back home right after the shopping spree. I don’t know if that anecdote is true or even still applicable but judging from the proliferation of luxury goods stores in China, I say that myth rings a bit hollow. Apparently, sales must have been good for foreign branded goods (both mid and high end) that finally, I saw local Chinese brands coming out in the market (most notably in Wangfujing district and in other places like Xian). Local brands especially the mid – end and the high – end ones are conspicuously absent during my several trips to China over the years (it is that or maybe I just so hated shopping that I avoided shopping altogether and may have missed the “change” altogether). It came to a point wherein when one thinks of brand in China, it usually means foreign brands and luxury brands and Chinese products are usually seen as cheap “stuffs” bought in tiangge. Funny, how such a predicament should have come to exist in the first place. I mean China is the world’s factory and most of the luxury items sold in China are most likely “Made in China”. Yet, there is no Chinese brand that purveys the top of the line, superior quality Chinese made products until recently. Hazarding a guess as to the reason behind this rather “late” conversion, I had to say that this has to do with the sputtering Chinese export being felt the past couple of years due to an appreciating RMB. As export markets become less lucrative to local Chinese companies over time, it is only logical for them to start to look for greener pastures and nothing is more convenient than the domestic scene. As the saying goes, better late than never. Chinese brands however aren’t exactly popular even to the local consumers. A friend of mine who happens to frequently shuttle between the Mainland and the Philippines mentions that Chinese brands are perceived by the local Chinese as “inferior” in every category compared to its foreign counterpart, which is quite ironic since the foreign brands might also be made in China. In spite of this, local Chinese brands do have a following among locals if judging from the fact that they are still “standing” however, I suspect that locals would almost always prefer foreign brands that is if they could afford it. It is probably due to this “fetish” for foreign brands among the Chinese buyers that local brands almost always adopt a “foreign” sounding brand name to the extent that they look practically similar to their foreign competitors. Furthermore, majority of the Chinese brand names are in ENGLISH without a Chinese name counterpart! What this reveal is that Chinese brands are exhibiting some degree of sophistication here however their ideas are far from original and creative. The few brands that sports a Chinese brand name counterpart along with their English brand names has English brand names that sounds well, how should I say, hilarious and totally “beyond this world”? For example, I’ve seen a pizza parlor whose name is PALATABLE PIZZA. Geez! With that name, I won’t even come 10 feet near it unless of course, I’m dying of hunger and there is no other alternative within a 100 mile radius. Other than that, I won’t travel thousand of mile just to eat a “palatable” pizza! If I am to ever to eat a pizza in China, it should be a GREAT pizza not just a palatable one! Another example, a hotel in Beijing (3 stars maybe) is named Yi Bi Si (宜必思), which could be loosely translated to “unforgettable”. Yet, the English name of the hotel is written as IBIS, which in Arabic is the word for “Satan”. Talk about cultural bobos. Even with purely Chinese name brands, some of the names are left to be desired. There is one shop in Xian which apparently sells clothes to “plump” women calls itself 肥太太, literally “fat wives”. I can’t really imagine seeing any decent women be caught dead in that kind of joint. Excellent marketing strategy (on targeting plump women as a market), really bad branding. It is quite clear that Chinese brands are in need of hardcore professional brand consultants that would help improve their image from just simply an imitation or from being lame. It is also just as apparent that Chinese brands are far from being international brands of note. To date, the only Chinese brand of international renown to my knowledge is Lenovo, the 4th world’s largest PC maker that bought out IBM PC some years back. Other than that, I can’t think of any. However, in my point of view, it would be only a matter of time, say 10 years perhaps before Chinese brands began “invading” the world just like the Japanese brands during the 80s and they would, given the manufacturing muscle of China, the fast technological evolution of it’s factories, and the growing sophistication of it’s marketers.
1 USD = 7.3 RenMinBi (RMB) or Chinese Yuan
1 RMB = PhP 6.67
I soooooooooooooooooo hate shopping! And it so happen that in my recent vacation trip to Beijing, the tour guide set us out to not one but FOUR shopping tours in and around Beijing! The first expedition is to a 168 like tiangge type of mall, the second and the last shopping expeditions is at WangFujing (王府井), Beijing’s premier shopping district and the second most popular shopping district in all of China next to Shanghai’s Nanjing East Road while the third shopping destination is to a Jade Factory en route going to the Great Wall. Anyway, good thing for me is that I am an avid book lover and Wangfujing has one of the largest Chinese book store in Beijing, Xin Hua Bookstore (新華書店, which happened to have a branch here in Manila however, their book collection here in the Philippines sucks). The book store is also one of my favorite places in Beijing. In spite of that, I didn’t spend all of my “allotted” shopping time in the book store. This is because my sister is with me and like most women, she do like to shop, or more precisely, window shop. So, I struck a deal with her (on our second shopping expedition). I get to spend the first half of the allotted 2 hours of shopping time to buy my books (which I did! Bought 7 books for 341 RMB; Great deal!). Other than that, in most shopping expeditions where there is no book store in sight, I had to “endure” shopping. It is not that I dread shopping so much because it is “shopping” (as in the act itself) rather one of the reasons that I don’t like shopping at all aside from the fact that it is quite boring, (I really wonder why some people would find shopping an enjoyable experience, in fact, I strongly doubted that the word “enjoyable” is by any means a proper adjective for shopping) is the fact that I tend to “analyze” the business. Unlike most mortals who see the glittering store front, the merchandise on sale, and the price tag, I on the other hand, see business models, marketing positioning, merchandising policy, and overall business strategy (and of course, the beautiful sales ladies but that is a different matter). As a matter of fact, this window – shopping spree in Beijing has afforded me an insight into the Made in China products and brands (mostly fashion apparels). On our first shopping expedition right after landing in Beijing, the tour guide, Lionel bought us to San Li Tun Yashow Clothing Market (三里屯雅秀服裝市場?), a tiangge like mall near the San Li Tun Embassy Area. At that time, I really don’t have any appetite to endure the 2 hour shopping spree at the tiangge mall, so my siobe (little sister) and I decided to skip the tiangge or the bargain mall in favor of window shopping at the next door, ultra “modern” shopping mall. Incidentally, speaking of bargain hunting in one of China’s tiangge, this activity isn’t for everybody especially not for the faint – hearted ones. Bargain hunting in China is only for the prodigious ones. This is because bargain hunting in China is so incredulous and damn outright, a rip – off! Take for instance one of our fellow tour mates, she bought a hand bag in the San Li Tun Mall that is selling for 300RMB, which is very expensive but she was able to bargain it to 50RMB! Despite that, that particular tour mate of ours felt that she was cheated because she felt that she could have bought it for 30RMB. In another incident, I pick up this 2 set music CDs of Chinese classical music in a boutique shop. The sales lady quoted me a price of 200RMB but immediately and voluntarily lowered it to 150RMB. At 150RMB, that is something like PhP1000. Naturally, I balked at lofty price tag and had the good sense to back out from it and during my brief stopover at Shanghai on my way back to Manila, I discovered that the same CD set is selling at 88RMB right inside the airport! Outrageous, simply, outrageous! It seems that the bargaining’s rule of thumb (in China) of offered price divided by 2 and then less 10% afterwards in order to get the fair price is no longer reliable at all. Anyway, back at the next door, ultra modern shopping mall. I find the place really nice and it should be, considering the huge number of expensive brand - stores that had opened shop in it. And this is what really surprises me. It is not the sheer number of expensive brands – outlet store that I’d seen in this mall and in some other places in Beijing (most notably Wangfujing) and the rest of China as well that surprise me but the fact that this huge number of expensive brands could co – exist! I mean in a “small” market, one expensive luxury brand is just one too many in a crowd but having ALL the major luxury brands to co – exist in China speaks volume about the size of the luxury market here. It is said that the Chinese are zealous consumer of luxury since ancient time. This is due in large part of the cultural concept of “Face” (面子). As the saying goes, one can lose everything but not the “Face”. If your peers drives a car, you better have one as well else you stand to lose face. Furthermore, you don’t simply just going to have a car. You must have a car brand that matches with your peers’ car brands as well if not better. No wonder, China is the world’s fastest growing luxury market. It is funny however because a few years back during my last trip to Shanghai – Beijing. My tour guide then told me that the Chinese government imposes a hefty 40% consumption tax on luxury goods (verification needed). It was so hefty that local Shanghai Chinese felt that it is much cheaper to actually take a plane to Hong Kong and buy the luxury item in question and came back home right after the shopping spree. I don’t know if that anecdote is true or even still applicable but judging from the proliferation of luxury goods stores in China, I say that myth rings a bit hollow. Apparently, sales must have been good for foreign branded goods (both mid and high end) that finally, I saw local Chinese brands coming out in the market (most notably in Wangfujing district and in other places like Xian). Local brands especially the mid – end and the high – end ones are conspicuously absent during my several trips to China over the years (it is that or maybe I just so hated shopping that I avoided shopping altogether and may have missed the “change” altogether). It came to a point wherein when one thinks of brand in China, it usually means foreign brands and luxury brands and Chinese products are usually seen as cheap “stuffs” bought in tiangge. Funny, how such a predicament should have come to exist in the first place. I mean China is the world’s factory and most of the luxury items sold in China are most likely “Made in China”. Yet, there is no Chinese brand that purveys the top of the line, superior quality Chinese made products until recently. Hazarding a guess as to the reason behind this rather “late” conversion, I had to say that this has to do with the sputtering Chinese export being felt the past couple of years due to an appreciating RMB. As export markets become less lucrative to local Chinese companies over time, it is only logical for them to start to look for greener pastures and nothing is more convenient than the domestic scene. As the saying goes, better late than never. Chinese brands however aren’t exactly popular even to the local consumers. A friend of mine who happens to frequently shuttle between the Mainland and the Philippines mentions that Chinese brands are perceived by the local Chinese as “inferior” in every category compared to its foreign counterpart, which is quite ironic since the foreign brands might also be made in China. In spite of this, local Chinese brands do have a following among locals if judging from the fact that they are still “standing” however, I suspect that locals would almost always prefer foreign brands that is if they could afford it. It is probably due to this “fetish” for foreign brands among the Chinese buyers that local brands almost always adopt a “foreign” sounding brand name to the extent that they look practically similar to their foreign competitors. Furthermore, majority of the Chinese brand names are in ENGLISH without a Chinese name counterpart! What this reveal is that Chinese brands are exhibiting some degree of sophistication here however their ideas are far from original and creative. The few brands that sports a Chinese brand name counterpart along with their English brand names has English brand names that sounds well, how should I say, hilarious and totally “beyond this world”? For example, I’ve seen a pizza parlor whose name is PALATABLE PIZZA. Geez! With that name, I won’t even come 10 feet near it unless of course, I’m dying of hunger and there is no other alternative within a 100 mile radius. Other than that, I won’t travel thousand of mile just to eat a “palatable” pizza! If I am to ever to eat a pizza in China, it should be a GREAT pizza not just a palatable one! Another example, a hotel in Beijing (3 stars maybe) is named Yi Bi Si (宜必思), which could be loosely translated to “unforgettable”. Yet, the English name of the hotel is written as IBIS, which in Arabic is the word for “Satan”. Talk about cultural bobos. Even with purely Chinese name brands, some of the names are left to be desired. There is one shop in Xian which apparently sells clothes to “plump” women calls itself 肥太太, literally “fat wives”. I can’t really imagine seeing any decent women be caught dead in that kind of joint. Excellent marketing strategy (on targeting plump women as a market), really bad branding. It is quite clear that Chinese brands are in need of hardcore professional brand consultants that would help improve their image from just simply an imitation or from being lame. It is also just as apparent that Chinese brands are far from being international brands of note. To date, the only Chinese brand of international renown to my knowledge is Lenovo, the 4th world’s largest PC maker that bought out IBM PC some years back. Other than that, I can’t think of any. However, in my point of view, it would be only a matter of time, say 10 years perhaps before Chinese brands began “invading” the world just like the Japanese brands during the 80s and they would, given the manufacturing muscle of China, the fast technological evolution of it’s factories, and the growing sophistication of it’s marketers.
No comments:
Post a Comment