Ambience, safety and fun quotient combine to harness spending power

Florentia Village, a shopping village network for luxury goods operated by Italian company RDM Group, has seen a record business performance this year since launching operations in China a decade back. Florentia Village, which operates in seven locations in China, aims to further expand its presence as it believes there is huge growth potential for luxury retail.

This year's record sales come on the back of strong results in 2020 (sales revenue: 10 billion yuan or $1.55 billion, up 7 percent over 2019), thanks to some 20 million visitors who stepped out of their homes for shopping as the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under better control in China.

During the weeklong National Day holiday in the first week of this month, Florentia Village saw sales across all of its shopping villages nationwide rise 30 percent year-on-year, while visitor traffic increased 11 percent over the pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Its e-commerce platform fvshop.com saw holiday sales surge 302 percent year-on-year.

"To some extent, COVID-19 has changed customers' lifestyles and shopping behavior tremendously," said Jacopo De Vena, managing director of Florentia Village and RDM Asia.

"Compared to crowded department stores in urban areas, customers who go shopping at outlets are able to keep a comparatively safe distance from each other, especially at Florentia Village, which is a kind of large outdoor mall concept, usually located on the outskirts of the local central business district.

"The number of middle-income Chinese consumers is expected to grow continuously. Their increased spending power, along with an understanding and desire for international brands, is just one of the reasons why we are so optimistic about the China market," he said.