Consumption craze: Vouchers boost catering spending in Shanghai

Shanghai's overall catering spending recorded strong growth, thanks to discount coupons issued for various types of restaurants over the past few weeks.

Since late September, a combined 2.51 million vouchers have been distributed in the city, and another 180 million yuan (US$25.42 million) worth of coupons have been allocated for the next round starting later this month.

In the two weeks since September 28, catering spending surged 37.8 percent from the year earlier period to 16.3 billion yuan.

These are part of the city's 500-million yuan consumption-driving campaign that addresses different consumers' needs for catering, accommodation, movies and sports during the peak autumn travel season.

More local restaurants are expected to be included with promotional activities to raise awareness of the campaign, and follow-up optimization efforts, such as the extension of the effective period for the vouchers, will also be put in place, according to the Shanghai Commerce Commission.

"The discount vouchers have successfully boosted consumer sentiment while maximizing the synergy to stimulate leisure spending," said Liu Min, deputy director of the commission. Several shopping centers offered additional discounts which contributed to the rebound in family gathering and banquets.

Coordinated efforts have been taken by the city government to offer targeted vouchers for tourism, entertainment, performance and sports events in parallel with the catering coupons which have proven to be essential in attracting foot traffic and revitalizing spending, she added.

The coupons have been distributed through three major payment platforms: Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay. The latest batch of vouchers to be available on Saturday.

As many as 3,465 merchants have signed up for the promotional campaign, covering more than 14,300 local eateries, beverage stores, fast food chains and restaurants.

During the recent weeklong National Day holiday, the city's 36 major business districts recorded 9.8 percent jump in foot traffic from the same period a year ago, totalling 34.49 million.