Luxury brands need to be flexible

Retail | Jeff Gong and Rebecca Wang

Most luxury brands faced a crisis last year as sales growth in the Chinese market slowed down or even declined. The situation was aggravated as a result of a series of initiatives by the Chinese government to counter corruption and limit spending of public funds.

The trend has been evident since the second half of 2012, resulting in sales of watches, wine and luxury cars falling to such levels that affected the entire luxury goods industry. During Spring Festival this year, more luxury brands were clearly affected.