The start of the Year of the Pig, traditionally associated with prosperity, has seen Bond Street in London, Fifth Avenue in New York and Galleries Lafayette in Paris rolling out the red carpet to welcome thousands of high-spending Chinese visitors. According to Global Blue, a consumer research agency, Chinese visitors to London in 2017 spent £1,500 on average at each West End shop they visited.
Chinese consumers have not only snapped up the latest collections from Prada in Milan, but their newly acquired taste for grilled cheese – not part of the traditional Chinese diet – is threatening to cause a halloumi shortage in Britain. We often speak about the power shift from the West to the East, but rarely has this shift becomes so clear as on the consumer spending front. So what should we expect next from the Chinese consumer?
