CHINA. Wangfujing Duty Free delivered a +6.8% year-on-year increase in National Day Golden Week (1-8 October) sales across its stores in Hainan, Heilongjiang, Hubei and Hunan provinces.
The strong performance during this key holiday travel period was driven by the retailer’s extensive store network and engaging campaigns that combined cultural experiences with immersive activities and premium offerings.
As a core component of Wangfujing Duty Free’s network, its two Hainan stores demonstrated strong resilience against market headwinds, the company noted.
Wangfujing International Duty-Free Harbour City, located in Wanning, anchored its holiday initiatives on two flagship exhibitions.
These activities highlighted key themes, focusing on national intangible cultural heritage and the Rainbow Bear charity project, and were complemented by visits from champion athletes, store debuts, product launches and live showcases of intangible cultural heritage.
On 1 October, world champion badminton player Bao Chunlai made a surprise appearance at the One City, One Intangible Cultural Heritage exhibition.
Visitors were treated to live demonstrations of the Zhejiang She embroidery and the Liangshan Yi lacquerware technique, offering an up-close look at traditional Chinese culture and craftsmanship.
In addition, charity merchandise, product launches from leading brands such as Apple and Descente, member benefits, shopping privileges and payment incentives further fuelled consumer enthusiasm.
This strategic combination of experiences and offerings contributed to higher foot traffic, which rose +9% year-on-year, and drove nearly a +10% increase in omnichannel sales, Wangfujing Duty Free said.
Over in Haikou, the Wangfujing Haikou Haiken Plaza store featured discounts up to -80% off and anime-themed activities aimed at younger consumers.
Despite the impact of Typhoon Matmo, the shop promptly and safely resumed operations.
On 6 October, the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, interactive games and a lantern-making workshop helped quickly restore foot traffic, ultimately driving a +19.2% year-over-year increase in food & beverage sales during the Golden Week holiday.
The retailer’s airport and downtown locations delivered standout results, boosted by the strong performance of new outlets.
The Harbin Taiping International Airport store sought to capture peak airport traffic by optimising displays, merchandise and promotional strategies, offering travellers a convenient duty-free shopping experience.
Meanwhile, the Wuhan downtown duty-free shop celebrated its first National Day holiday since its May opening, offering gifts such as eco-friendly tote bags, customisable Disney plush toys and commemorative gold coins for qualifying purchases, along with online coupons and social media-exclusive promotions.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the store invited international visitors to create traditional lanterns, immersing them in a cultural experience to boost engagement.
The Changsha downtown duty-free location focused on “ensuring supply, optimising displays, strengthening promotions and boosting conversions” this holiday period.
Building on the momentum of its first month of operations, the store collaborated with the local government and popular Changsha homegrown brands, including Modern China Tea Shop, to launch joint campaigns.
Promotional activities, including voucher giveaways, new member gifts and special discounts, contributed to strong sales growth, with weekly sales reaching a record high since opening.
Wangfujing Duty Free’s ecommerce platform launched a coupon giveaway campaign to boost repeat orders. Orders using coupons had an average transaction value 55% higher than the overall average, and next-day repurchase rates rose +3% compared to the same period of the previous month.
At the Wangfujing Department Store in Shenyang, Liaoning, the retailer set up a promotional booth at the entrance to direct traffic to its ecommerce platform, contributing 15% of total online orders.
The ecommerce segment delivered robust results during the holiday period, with total order volume increasing +9% year-on-year. Beauty products, Mid-Autumn gifts, beverages and health supplements contributed strongly to overall sales, while skincare sales surged +25% compared to the previous year.
“This National Day Golden Week, we adopted a strategy of ‘cross-sector synergy, multi-scenario coverage, and integration of culture and commerce’, achieving steady performance growth. This approach reinforced Wangfujing’s brand image as a comprehensive duty-free service provider and offered consumers a diverse array of new holiday shopping experiences,” Wangfujing Duty Free said. ✈
