| | Restructuring of Retail Business Model Drives Innovative Consumption Scenarios The market ushered in a peak sales season in September and October. Taking this great opportunity, retail enterprises introduced diverse marketing campaigns to attract more consumers. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, retail sales of consumer goods totalled RMB 34.2107 trillion in the first three quarters of this year, up 6.8% year-on-year, signalling that customer consumption is stabilising. In the context of the digital economy development, the new retail business model has shifted priorities from sales to consumer experience. This business model concentrates on social circles and strives to enrich brand content within them. E-commerce platforms analyse and explore consumer groups with the same consumption experience through big data, and gather loyal customers to participate in internal promotions with the help of social media and diversified activities. This method not only reduces the cost for retailers to expand their customer base but also improves the efficiency of consumers in shopping. As a free port, Macao offers a simple and low tax system. Commodities such as watches, clocks, and jewellery are very popular, boosting the overall development of the retail industry. Investors are sanguine about the prospects of Macao’s retail market and invest in Macao through the Investor’s “One-stop” Service provided by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and its Investment Committee’s cross-departmental co-operation mechanism. Moreover, the Macao SAR government fully supports the products of “Macao Brand”, “Made in Macao”, and “Macao Design”, and encourages local enterprises to seek co-operation with the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform and the opportunities brought about by the development of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, thus enhancing the influence of local products. | |
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| New Retail Thinking Leads Consumption Trend Retail is an important link to facilitate social and economic growth. With the development of e-commerce, product sales are gradually shifting from offline to online. Under the circumstance of sufficient product supply and changing consumption scenarios, retailers need to provide a high-quality service experience to improve the repurchase rate of consumers. |
| | | As we can see, the core element of the retail industry changes with economic development. In the new era of “people-orientated” retail, consumption behaviours can be divided into the stages of pre-consumption, consumption, and post-consumption. Before consumption, consumers will search for market reviews on goods or services and are more likely to have a deep resonance with sales content rich in expertise. In consumption, consumers are more willing to participate in promotions and carefully evaluate special offers and discounts, thus prolonging the decision-making process for purchasing products or services. After consumption, consumers will share their use experience and make purchasing decisions through product review sharing. Therefore, the business model of new retail needs to be based on “product functions – service effectiveness –experience” to build a collaborative environment of “application scenarios – consumption expectations – business scenarios”. |
| | | The above model is not only suitable for the simple trading of small commodities but also for large comprehensive shopping centres in integrated resorts. A large international household goods retail chain that has entered Macao has also operated hotels and restaurants under the same brand in the mainland. The brand has created a project featuring “hotel + catering + retail” in the same place, allowing consumers to enjoy and even buy its products when staying in the hotel. It is worth mentioning that livestream selling and short videos are also important channels to promote the socialisation of the new retail experience. Such channels help form social circles with similar consumption preferences through people-to-people bonds, which increases endorsement and user trust plus helps retailers attract loyal customers. |
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| | Seizing Potential Retail Opportunities to Contribute to Rise of Macao Brands As a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, Macao enjoys preferential tax-free policies, providing appealing retail prices of high-end products to consumers. According to data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) of the Macao SAR government, Macao’s top five categories in terms of retail sales were watches, clocks & jewellery, leather goods, general merchandise, adult apparel & accessories, supermarket products, and communication equipment in the first halves of 2021, 2022 and 2023 (see Figure 1). |
| | (Source: DSEC) Macao is home to specialty products, featuring many time-honoured shops selling Macao brands, Made-in-Macao products, and Macao designs. To promote such products, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) has set up an exhibition centre – “Macao Ideas”, to serve as a platform for domestic and foreign buyers, agents, or enterprises interested in introducing Macao products. Its exhibition sites are located in Macao and IPIM’s six representative offices in Chengdu, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shenyang, and Wuhan. Besides, the Macao SAR government promoted the “M-Mark (Macao Product Quality Certification Scheme)” and supported the establishment of MinM Plaza, to improve the image and popularity of Macao products. It has also launched the “Distinctive Shops Programme” to showcase distinctive images of local communities, making them more attractive to locals and visitors, and facilitate the traditional catering and retail industries in a trial model. |
| | As the social media-based sales outlets develop, many live streamers recommend Macao products and services on social platforms. They increase brand influence by drawing tons of users to well-known social platforms through personal charisma, expertise, and entertaining performances. In the first half of 2023, IPIM introduced quality products from Portuguese-speaking countries to the livestreaming sales shows at the Pavilion of China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform, successfully strengthening customers’ impression of such products. Macao retailers can work with live streamers to increase brand visibility by inviting them to experience products and services, and offering special offers and gifts for their recommendation. |
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| | Macao, as an international tourist destination, has long attracted numerous visitors and shoppers, making retail a key part of the economy. In recent years, many internationally renowned brands have entered its market, opening boutiques and counters in department shops and shopping centres. The entry of these brands brings diversity and competitiveness to Macao’s retail industry, whilst providing consumers with a richer shopping experience. As the internet becomes accessible to more people and e-commerce rapidly develops, an increasing number of consumers now shop online, which brings certain challenges to the traditional brick-and-mortar retail outlets. Local retailers in Macao have also begun to pay attention to e-selling and online promotions to attract more consumers. In this Issue, we interviewed a local enterprise selling hand-woven bags in Macao with slight ethnic overtones to learn its marketing methods: |
| Enterprise Profile: Bou Sang Trading Limited The enterprise aims to create a Macao clothing brand with local characteristics. While collecting unique hand-woven bags worldwide, it also expects to contribute to the diversified development of Macao’s industries. |
| | | Business Insights: - Sales strategy: Bou Sang imports hand-woven bags with slight ethnic overtones from all over the world, including Colombia, India, Morocco, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States. The retailer personally draws the designs for the bags and collaborates with craftspeople to create the Macao hand-woven bag series, making a strategic breakthrough in the simple retail model of “buying and selling”. Since the launch of the Macao hand-woven bag series, the enterprise has designed its own products, and its corporate value has greatly improved.
- Purchasing method: With the launch of the Macao hand-woven bag series, Bou Sang celebrates its developing business and expanding size. It has stronger bargaining power to find suitable craftspeople and product suppliers. Therefore, in the face of rising costs, Bou Sang maintains stable prices as long as it can.
- Publicity channels: Bou Sang continues to release promotional videos and posters on various media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, WeChat, and Xiaohongshu. It has been participating in major MICE events in Macao and has recently established booths at offline markets in Hong Kong.
- Business expansion: At present, Bou Sang’s products have no similar competitor in Macao. Therefore, it is believed that insisting on making the designs and providing customised services for its Macao series it can effectively enhance the enterprise’s competitiveness. Bou Sang hopes to open branches in Taipa and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as well as looking for emerging livestreaming platforms to explore more business opportunities. In addition, Bou Sang believes that if it can communicate and collaborate with enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Portuguese-speaking countries to seek mutually beneficial solutions, such as purchase orders and consignment publicity, it can create a successful brand effect in a more effective manner rather than developing the traditional manner.
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| | Macao’s fresh food retail markets are mainly composed of wet markets and supermarkets. Wet markets are distributed in communities, providing affordable, fresh, and diverse food. Supermarkets are another major food retail channel in Macao, offering a wide range of food and a relatively cleaner shopping environment. Responding to Macao residents’ pursuit of food quality, some shops exclusively selling organic vegetables or imported food are also popular. Such shops pay more attention to food quality and provide high-end and distinctive products. This Issue introduces how a large chain store specialising in selling fresh food opened up in Macao through the services of IPIM. |
| Enterprise Name: Qiandama User of Investor’s “One-stop” Service Service Content: Provide whole-process follow-ups, including company incorporation, licence application, procedures for recruiting local workers and importing non-resident workers. The enterprise has successfully obtained licences to operate a retail establishment for the sale of vegetables, and fresh and chilled meat issued by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM), and officially put into operation. |
| | According to DSEC data, retail sales in Q2 2023 increased by 64.3% year-on-year to MOP21.58 billion. After removing the effect of price changes, the sales volume index rose by 59.3% year-on-year. The supermarkets’ contribution to retail sales increased from 5.6% in Q1 2023 to 5.8% in Q2 2023. Qiandama is an enterprise from the mainland selling affordable fresh meat and vegetables under the concept of “never selling overnight meat”. It has opened 3,000 shops in the mainland and more than 50 shops in Hong Kong. Its first franchise shop in Macao was officially opened in April 2023. The enterprise is optimistic about Macao’s vegetable retail market, and the administrative procedures for company registration in Macao were fast due to the Investor’s “One-stop” Service provided by IPIM. |
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Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute Address: 1/F and 2/F of the office building of the Complex of Commerce and Trade Co-operation Platform for China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in Rua Sul de Entre Lagos, Macao Website: https://www.ipim.gov.mo E-mail: ipim@ipim.gov.mo Tele: (853) 2871 0300 Fax: (853) 2859 0309 © copyright 2023 IPIM.All rights reserved (Disclaimer) If you want to stop receiving these emails, please click here to unsubscribe. |
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