Chinese consumers are typically known for lavish spending on high-end handbags, clothes and accessories that sustain Western luxury brands.
This year, however, economic ill winds have sapped much of their urge to splurge and it’s the simpler luxuries in life – artisanal food and drinks as well as smart trendy appliances – that have caught their eye.
Brands that have jumped on the trend include Kweichow Moutai, best known for $300 bottles of baijiu, the Chinese spirit popular at banquets. It debuted baijiu-infused ice cream at $10 a cup in May, racking up 2.5 million yuan ($350,000) of sales on the first day.
Hong Kong-listed Budweiser Brewing Asia-Pacific, a unit of Anheuser-Busch InBev, notes that premium and craft beer as well as specially packaged gift boxes of beer priced at hundreds of dollars is selling unexpectedly well.
Sales of gaming gear and home devices from water-saving shower heads to smart toothbrushes to printers surged as much as four times last year’s levels during JD.com’s mid-year 618 shopping festival, data from the e-commerce giant showed.
