Incentives for Shanghai shopping festival to get shop tills ringing

The 2023 International Consumption Season and the 4th Shanghai Double Five Shopping Festival officially opened on Saturday.

The second International Consumption Center City Forum was also held after the launch ceremony.

Shanghai, along with Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing, are designated by the Ministry of Commerce as five key cities to become international consumption centers.

"These five cities make up over 13 percent of total consumption in the country with large impact, therefore new consumption momentum shall be encouraged in these cities, especially in key areas like automobiles, green economy, and elderly care," said commerce minister Wang Wentao at the forum in Shanghai.

Shanghai Vice Mayor Wu Qing said the city invites a wide range of business and service providers to offer innovative services and festive occasions like the shopping season to unleash consumption momentum.

It also strives to optimize the business environment and introduce new rules to allow innovative service to establish business and extend innovative service.

A total of 15 representatives from top retail firms, digital sites and payment firms, including China UnionPay, Alibaba, Tencent, Bailian, Douyin, Bright Food Group, SAIC, Trip.com and Fosun, pledged incentives spanning a wide range of sectors for shopping, travel, entertainment and automobile service.

Mayor of Dusseldorf, Stephan Keller, shared the experience of the city's retail revitalization plans via video remarks at the forum.

He said the German city is looking forward to working with Shanghai on a wide range of areas including exhibitions and events, and expects to join hands to create platform for innovative projects.

Ding Yining / SHINE

L'Oréal China received the city's first license for on-spot personalized cosmetics earlier this week.

The SkinCeuticals CUSTOM D.O.S.E service will be available next month as part of the beauty giant's efforts to cater to personalized services.

Catering businesses, outdoor trips and leisure activities already showed strong figures.

More than 1.8 billion yuan (US$260 million) worth of coupons will be offered on Meituan for Shanghai residents over three months to encourage retail spending and support catering businesses.

The number of online reservation for dine-in eating during the five-day Labor Day holiday jumped more than 200 percent from 2019, and Shanghai has the highest number of restaurant reservations across the country, according to Meituan data.

Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park had more than 13 times the reservation volume during the holiday and visitors from out of town are expected to make up about 70 percent of total customers.

For those who would stay at home, shopping subsidies for fresh food and prepared dishes are also offered.

Dingdong Maicai expects sales of pre-cooked dishes in the coming week to add 45 percent from normal times, and fresh food would also increase about 35 percent.

Tropical fruit and snacks are also quickly picking up.

Ding Yining / SHINE

Pinduoduo pledged 4 billion yuan of subsidies and a special promotion section featuring a wide range of local products from household time-honored brands.

Deep discounts are also available for home appliances, tech gadgets as well as agricultural products from rural regions such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Tibet.

Local food conglomerate Bright Food Co brings more than 300 kinds of new products and more than 130 promotional campaigns covering convenience stores, dairy specialty shops and online channels.

Sephora's home brand "Sephora Collection" offers a new line facial mask and special discounts at its retail outlets.

Alibaba's lifestyle service site Ele.me offers a wide range of subsidies and livestreaming sessions to help consumers explore trendy areas, fashion spots and popular consumption destinations.

Ti Gong