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More and more wealthy East Europeans are shopping abroad for luxury brands
News 24 September 2009
One of biggest challenges of retailers in Eastern Europe has long been to lure local people to buy locally as opposed to shopping abroad in the major capital cities. Before the crisis, it seemed the majority of them have made an advancement by persuading local customers to buy locally.
A recent study among major luxury retailers in Eastern Europe, CPP Management Consultants Ltd has found that more and more wealthy locals are going back to the habits of shopping internationally. The estimated percentage is that 40% of the wealthy consumers nowadays prefer to take shopping trips abroad.
The main reason is that, the local retailers both wholesalers (multibrand stores) or franchisees have been forced by the crisis to reduce their buying, therefore, the selection of products is much smaller than in the international flagship locations. The second reason is that local retailers are also less flexible when it comes to pricing and discounts, especially because of their tight financial situation.
Another factor which has stimulated wealthy Eastern Europe consumers to buy abroad is the large number of flight connections and very small prices for airline tickets. Hotels in Paris, Milan or Munich are at least 20% cheaper this year than same period last year. This also adds value to the shopping trip abroad.
As reported by CPP-LUXURY.COM earlier this month, the number of Eastern European shoppers in Italy's oulet malls and villages as increased by at least 30%, compared to last year. Most likely the shoppers are visiting both flagship locations and outlet stores.