Golden Week set to boost London’s luxury retailers

London’s premium retailers are getting ready for a potential influx of big spending visitors with the start of China’s national holiday Golden Week on October 1, who traditionally take advantage of London’s designer stores and tax free shopping.

According to figures from Worldpay, the UK’s leading payment processing company, last year’s Golden Week saw Chinese visitors spending at London’s luxury retailers soar by 20.7 percent compared with the previous week, which attributed to a record 70,000 transactions made using Chinese cards.

Dave Hobday, managing Director of Worldpay UK, said: “The Chinese love affair with luxury brands is well documented, and with London offering the world’s best shopping experience, it’s no surprise that Chinese tourists have fallen in love with the city.

“With a mix of premium stores, upmarket hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants catering to the needs of Chinese visitors, the capital is in a perfect position to take advantage of the Great Wallet of China, and the boost that Golden Week brings.”

The weekend of Golden Week is set to be the peak shopping time for Chinese visitors and also when they are the “most extravagant”, with average transaction values increasing by over 38 percent compared to the previous weekend, according to Worldpay.

Luxury retailers expecting week-long boost from Golden Week

Hobday added: “Retailers are increasingly savvy and are doing all they can to get a share of these high-rolling tourists. High-end stores now have bi-lingual staff speaking Mandarin and offer dynamic currency conversion so Chinese visitors can easily do their shopping in Yuan. All of this, combined with tax-free shopping for Chinese tourists, makes London the go-to destination during Golden Week. Retailers would be mad to miss out.”

Key retailers expecting to do well this Golden Week includes luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Prada, who generally put ‘Chinese-friendly’ products on offer and employ extra Mandarin speakers, as well as Westfield London’s The Village that hosts designer labels, and high-end department stores Harrods and Selfridges.

Golden Week was originally instituted in 1999 to celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China but in recent years it has become an opportunity for wealthy Chinese tourists to travel away from the country to visit the world’s most luxurious shopping destinations. In 2010, 100,000 Chinese visitors came to the UK but this has grown hugely in recent years with nearly 200,000 visiting last year.

Image: Louis Vuitton, New Bond Street, London