As 2018 draws to a close, only a few events in the luxury world have burst into public view, such as the Dolce & Gabbana furore.

And when night falls, the Gatsby-esque glitz party never seems to end. The luxury boom is under way, and there is pressure and bubbling energy beneath the extravaganza. Where you can't see, a short year is like a few lifetimes, and the rules are being rewritten every day.

From events large and small, we've sifted through five of the year's most interesting trends.

01

Luxury e-commerce has become the general trend

In October 2018, luxury e-commerce nostalgia Hermes, the official website online shopping function, but also put friends circle advertising, luxury e-commerce has become a trend.

Several milestones have been achieved. Alibaba signed joint ventures with luxury groups; Jingdong signed with Xinyu Hengdeli. Xinyu promotes watch brands to set up official flagship stores in Jingdong, and undertakes supply, supply chain management and market operation. Xinyu Hengdeli has a very close relationship with the Swatch Group, and the watch and jewelry resources are extremely rich, and the potential cannot be underestimated.

Tencent also has an amazing performance in the field of luxury e-commerce, and the social value is exploited to the maximum. Wechat boutiques, circle of friends advertising, QQ advertising have drawn huge energy from social relations, with small programs, to form a complete e-commerce chain.

In 2017, only a few "digital early birds" such as Dior tried small programs. In 2018, the number of small programs in the luxury circle exploded, Cartier, Valentino, Michael Kors... Wechat internal data, nearly 50 luxury brands through the small program, 76% have sales conversion ability, that is, can sell goods directly. Luxury goods do e-commerce in the wechat world, it seems more official, just like the official website is more controllable.

According to Bain & Company's 2018 Luxury report, more and more consumers are buying luxury goods online. The global luxury retail channel grew by 4% in 2018, with the growth of the specialty store channel slowing. The rapid rise of the Asian market, ahead of the European market, has become the new growth engine of luxury online sales.

02

Chinese companies continue to buy luxury brands overseas

In recent years, Shandong Ruyi Group, which started as a woolen mill, has attracted international attention because of its frequent acquisitions of overseas brands. In 2018, Ruyi did not stop, and other Chinese companies also gained. Compared with the past, the international brands acquired by Chinese companies this year have a higher market position, including long-established fashion and leather goods brands.

This year, Ruyi successfully acquired Bally, beating many competitors. What is remarkable is that Bally is not only a representative national brand of Swiss leather goods, but also the current development trend is quite good. Unlike in the past, Chinese companies usually only get a chance when luxury brands are struggling and there are no successors.

On the one hand, this acquisition is a desirable professional upgrade, on the other hand, the original owner of Bally's German family is determined to change the runway, the potential of the Chinese luxury market is coveted, and selling to the Chinese is considered a good home.

In other cases, Fosun took over Lanvin, which had been in turmoil for a long time. This haute couture started in France, the old fashion house was the object of many international capital chase, the competition was once white-hot, Fosun with an incredible low price to copy the bottom success is impressive. Soon, Fosun won the world's thinnest stockings brand Wolford, although the acquisition amount is not high, the brand's top position in the market segment is very rare.

This year has seen the third Chinese company to acquire overseas in the fashion industry, the 21-year-old fashion brand ICICLE, which has acquired another old French fashion house, Carven. The acquisition makes more business sense at this point. The Chinese acquirer focuses on fashion, has a lot of experience, and has a very dense domestic channel network. Better yet, the beleaguered Carven is being bought for a bargain price, which may be the quickest to a healthy run.

Then, a mysterious Chinese company, a mysterious woman rich, bought the top brand of crystal Baccarat for 1 billion, which is the global leader in the extremely segmsegmed industry of crystal and is seen as a role in the traditional hard luxury circle.

Turmoil in the international luxury goods circle is normal, not every family business will be stable to the next generation, and several luxury groups can not take all the good brands. After some economic cycles, there will be acquisition opportunities for some brands, and increasingly powerful Chinese companies will appear in the market. In 2018, overseas acquisitions by Chinese companies looked a bit more credible than before.

03

China's daigou space is squeezed

In July 2018, the Chinese government lowered import tariffs, which dealt a psychological blow to the grey channels of daigou. Over the years, "luxury goods are more expensive in China than overseas" has become a common understanding. Taking handbags as an example, the price of the same product in China may be 30% or more higher than overseas, and the situation is similar for cosmetics, watches and jewelry.

In March 2015, Chanel took the initiative to adjust the prices in different markets, trying to bring the retail prices in China and European countries to a similar level, but the problem of industry has not been solved.

Daigou look for price differences between different national markets, and "human flesh" handling takes away brand profits. In addition, as the frequency of Chinese outbound travel has increased year after year, China has been buying luxury goods abroad for a long time on a staggering scale. Various factors have caused market imbalances in different regions, and the Chinese team of many brands has suffered seriously in recent decades.

The reduction of tariffs this year shows that the Chinese government is willing to address the price gap of luxury goods. Although the impact of tariffs on the price gap is not large, it has caused many brands to follow up, whether LV or Gucci, from high-end cosmetics to luxury watches, have lowered retail prices in response.

At the same time as the tariff reduction, the Chinese customs has continuously strengthened inspection and cracked down on large-scale purchasing activities. Many consumers are required to pay taxes on their high-end watches purchased abroad when they enter the customs, and those suspected of smuggling will even encounter greater trouble. Cargo ships are subject to extra scrutiny before they enter the customs. Some online shop owners, who specialize in daigou, claim to have been checked on their personal wechat accounts during customs entry to determine whether there are chat records involving luxury goods daigou.

Tariff reduction, customs crackdown, coupled with the initiative of luxury brands to reduce domestic retail prices, and some watch brands to adopt flexible sales policies, the purchasing space has been strongly squeezed, and Chinese luxury consumption has shown signs of return.

04

A large number of luxury brands have arrived in the northwest

When Xi 'an SKP opened in May 2018, its impact went far beyond the routine opening of an ordinary shopping mall. This is the first time that SKP has crossed the capital, and Beijing SKP, according to sales, reached 12.5 billion in 2017, ranking second only to London's Harrods Department store, which is a pivotal and weathervane role in China's luxury industry.

Although the Northwest market has never been ignored over the years, this opening event marks that the luxury consumption energy in the Northwest has accumulated to a considerable scale, and it seems to be on the eve of take-off.

Xi 'an is the starting point of the "Belt and Road", and the luxury lineup of Xi 'an SKP also shows that the brand has made an almost unanimous judgment. On the occasion of opening, 1,300 brands were announced to enter, including Hermes, Blancpain, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc. Prada even carried its brands and opened as many as 7 stores at one time.

Before the Chinese government's crackdown on corruption in 2012, luxury goods companies, buoyed by their booming performance, were tempted to sink to second - and third-tier cities, with LV even opening a store in Nanning, Guangxi province. The decision was gradually seen as premature. In the years after 2013, the pain of the luxury industry caused by China's anti-corruption fermented, many big brands closed their stores in third - and fourth-tier cities, and many shops in depressed locations in first - and second-tier cities were not spared.

In 2018, the growth of the luxury industry has returned, and after the demand for gifts has been squeezed out, the demand for self-use has shown strong support. As luxury goods in new first-tier cities such as Hangzhou and Chengdu sell well, the key northwestern city of Xi 'an is gradually emerging as a new star. In addition to the Belt and Road policy, the Northwest is rich in mineral resources, real estate, infrastructure construction and other fields. Many luxury brands opened their first store in Northwest China in Xi 'an SKP, believing that the opportunity in northwest China should not be missed.

05

Luxury marketing bifurcates, with top brands seeking ideological resonance

Under the attack of 618 and Double 11, luxury brands that have always avoided discounts have taken Qixi as a marketing focus in recent years, and the popularity of Qixi in 2018 has been unprecedented.

Dior pushed the Qixi special style, let Angelababy bring the main package into the circle of friends, and also found a large number of stars such as Wang Likun and Jing Tian, and superimposed their traffic. Valentino, Michael Kors and other brands also sent their own good relationship stars, big and small splash. Handbags are the main character, and there are many classic entry-level jewelry brands that are strong, because men want to buy gifts for the women they love.

At a marketing summit in France in the middle of the year, executives of beauty brands pointed out that the marketing styles of high-end and mid-range cosmetics are becoming more and more similar. In fact, the marketing of cosmetics and entry-level handbags is also moving closer to mass consumer goods. The high-end jewelry and watches at the tip of the luxury pyramid basically did not participate in the Qixi Festival. They pay more attention to the influence of specific circles, and the goal of marketing is not only to "reach" those collectors and VIPs, but also to make them resonate and be impressed.

Louis Vuitton's "Flight, Voyage, Travel" exhibition in Shanghai this year focuses on the history of travel, integrating art, music and literature, and connecting Louis Vuitton's past, present and future through Chinese oil painting artist He An's "Desire."

The top Swiss watch brand Blanco launched two major youth programs this year, namely, "Blanco · Republic Literature Award" and "Blanco · Wu Xiaobo Youth Luncheon". It seems that all belong to the activities of a specific circle, and the connection between the watch is worth the patience to taste.