Cici Cao
Hong Kong has become less attractive to luxury consumers from mainland China's first-tier cities, with their rating of the city's attractiveness as a luxury goods center down 5 percent, according to the annual luxury report by MDRi.
MDRi surveyed 1,500 luxury consumers from mainland China and 500 from Hong Kong.
All respondents were required to have spent at least 50,000 yuan (HK$53,493) or HK$50,000 on luxury purchases within the past year.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong's attractiveness to third-tier city dwellers soared by 20 percent to 88 percent.
Overall, 82 percent of high-end mainland consumers believe that Hong Kong is still a luxury goods center, according to the report.
The report also found that 59 percent of the first-tier city residents surveyed consider Hong Kong could no longer offer a luxury consumption experience better than that of other parts of Asia and China, while 43 percent said Hong Kong does not have many worthwhile collections - and 30 percent saying it lacks new and thrilling brands.
At the same time, mainland consumers offer the same rates for the quality of high-end services in China and Hong Kong, with 97 percent expressing satisfaction with service in the two locations.
Notably, satisfaction among mainland respondents increased by 9 percentage points year-over-year, compared to a 2-point rise for Hong Kong.
In response to a question of whether Hong Kong's future luxury consumption market can come out of the doldrums, MDRi said the city's luxury retail sector can rebound on the basis of larger investments by retailers to enhance the shopping experience.
It cites the Hongkong Land Holdings' expansion project as a positive example.
Furthermore, the report found 56 percent of mainland luxury consumers plan to increase spending next year, a 4 percent growth from last year, while only 48 percent of Hong Kong respondents intend to do so, reflecting their pessimism towards the future economic situation.
Furthermore, 12 percent of Hong Kong respondents intend to cut luxury spending, 2 percent higher year-on-year, focusing on watches (14 percent), handbags (9 percent) and travel (4 percent).
In terms of expenditure, mainland consumers spent an average of 234,500 yuan on luxury goods in the past year, a 7 percent increase over the same period last year.
Hong Kong's average luxury spending rose by only 3 percent to HK$223,900.
Canton Road is home to myriad haute couture brands. BLOOMBERG
