Shanghai seeks to boost sales alongside shopping festival
Shanghai's annual international shopping season and the fourth Shanghai Double Five Shopping Festival will kick off on Saturday amid the city's latest effort to inject sales momentum.
The integration of shopping, tourism, food, gaming and exhibitions will maximize incentives at various levels to boost sales and cement the latest trend for green and high-quality consumption.
A total of 12 flagship events and more than 1,000 promotional campaigns from 16 districts will be staged during the three-month period. Coupons and discounts from various business districts, retailers and online platforms will be available.
The shopping season will also focus on customers from out of town to further build the city into a global shopping destination.
An overview of promotional activities can be accessed at the following portal: https://swwpaipian.shmallshow.com/.
New consumption formats and new shopping experiences will be featured during the shopping season, said Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Commerce Commission.
Shanghai's unique neighborhoods, cultural landmarks, parks, villages and other urban spaces will be turned into signature venues to promote immersive experiences and diversified new shopping experiences during the shopping season, she added.
Unlike the usual expositions held in exhibition halls, these new landmarks would combine art and cultural activities together with the shopping experience to stay relevant to customers' daily lives.
Outdoor spaces, especially pedestrian streets, will become shopping locations to showcase each area's distinct features and fashion trends.
For example, at the flagship Shanghai No.1 Shopping Center on Nanjing Road E., an immersive performance space will be unveiled for musicals and stage plays.
An integrated space for cartoon and animation fans and gaming derivatives is available as well for Gen-Z shoppers.
An immersive performance space is to be unveiled for musicals and stage plays at the No.1 Shopping Center on the flagship Nanjing Road pedestrian street to complement the shopping experience.
Digital retailers have also promised even deeper discounts than in previous years to fully mobilize resources from both online and offline to motivate consumption.
Meituan pledged subsidies and coupons for different kinds of physical retailers as well as online deliveries, hotel bookings and tourism spending.
Small and micro businesses have shown signs of recovery, with online orders jumping 25 percent in March from a year earlier, according to Meituan data.
Dingdong Maicai's annual sales event, which begins on May 4, will provide fresh food coupons as well as discounts on famous brands such as OATLY and Wall's.
Pre-cooked dishes, barbecue food items, crawfish and seasonal fruits will also be featured.
Local shopping site Pinduoduo will offer the deepest discounts on not only imported goods but also Shanghai's homemade time-honored brands.
Livestreaming sessions will be staged on Saturday, with CCTV and Dragon TV partnering to promote the event.
Digital retailers promised even deeper discounts than in previous years.
