Get Prada at a 70% discount and thrifty middle-class shoppers swarm the outlet.

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Amazing discounts that are addictive

Chen Chen didn't hesitate for more than 2 minutes before she grabbed the Prada small-sized Killer Bag with a 70% discount.

In August, when the post-90s Chen Chen was traveling in the suburbs of Beijing and passing by Fangshan Capital Outlets, she originally just wanted to take a casual stroll. Until she walked into the Outlets Boutique Collection Store and saw a sign on the Prada shelf with the words "30% off" written in red on a white background.

Chen Chen couldn't believe it. "Why is it so cheap?"

The salesperson said that these bags were produced in 2020 and were about to be removed from the shelves.

The same bag is priced at 34,200 yuan in the Prada Tmall Flagship Store, but in the Outlets, it only costs 7,500 yuan. Although the bag has been in storage for 4 years, Chen Chen still feels that it would be a loss not to buy it.

Chen Chen found that the one in her hand had some flaws. The salesperson turned around and brought out a large cardboard box from under the counter, filled with many brand new black Killer Bags, and let Chen Chen choose by herself. For a moment, Chen Chen was in a trance. It was the first time she had picked a Prada bag like picking cabbage from a cardboard box.

When checking out, the salesperson confirmed the Tmall version of this Killer Bag for Chen Chen again, "It's exactly the same," and added at the end, "Who would know that this bag was produced in 2020 when you carry it out?"

Yes, in the Outlets, buying big brands at discounted prices is really addictive.

The full name of Outlets is Outlets (a transliteration of the English word), which was born in the United States in the 1930s. It focuses on discounted famous brands, and its core customer group is middle-class consumers who pursue quality but are sensitive to prices. In 2002, the Outlets business format was introduced to the Chinese market. It has experienced both capital enthusiasm and market cooling, and gradually returned to the public eye during the epidemic.

Outdated and old-fashioned are the stereotypes that many people once had about Outlets. "Many shoes of unknown brands are piled up there, like in a warehouse. Although the goods there are discounted, they are still not cheap," said Saina, a native of Beijing. A chance shopping experience last year made her change her prejudice against Outlets. She didn't expect to be able to buy cost-effective things in Outlets. Now, Outlets has "passed through countless difficulties."

After this year's National Day holiday, several leading Outlets operators announced their National Day battle reports: Wangfujing Outlets' 15 stores achieved a sales of 700 million yuan during the National Day holiday, with a year-on-year increase of 11% in business volume and 3.87 million person-times in passenger flow, a year-on-year increase of 17%; Capital Outlets' 16 stores in 15 cities across the country achieved a sales of nearly 600 million yuan; Bailian Outlets also welcomed a double growth in sales and passenger flow.

The discussion about Outlets on social media is also very high. There are more than 1.71 million notes about Outlets on Xiaohongshu. A netizen who often shops in Outlets said that Outlets maintains her last bit of dressing dignity as a low-level financial worker.

The most popular area in Outlets is various fast-fashion sports brands. For example, the discount of the Nike Outlets store in Beijing is maintained at around 55% for a long time, and the more you buy, the more cost-effective it is. Discounts on top of discounts, full-reduction and coupon-returning, and high-multiplier member points are already regular promotions in Outlets.

"Buying sports brands in Outlets is like wholesaling," Saina has become a loyal customer of Outlets. She will go into Outlets all over the country to shop whenever she passes by. She buys several items at a time. If she doesn't buy enough, she can find someone to share the bill. "The shoes of Adidas that are still selling for more than 1,000 yuan in the regular-price stores in Beijing are sold for 300 yuan in the Hainan Outlets. I got the Skechers that was originally priced at 500 yuan for 180 yuan."

The day Chen Chen visited Fangshan Capital Outlets happened to be when Adidas was offering a 52% discount for three items. She saw that the huge store was filled with people, and sports shoes were lined up against the wall and piled up for people to try on at will. The air conditioning in the store was not enough, and the mixed smells of people's sweat and feet, and various complex odors could not stop the continuous flow of customers.

According to sources, Nike has always been the performance leader in Outlets. Some Nike Outlets flagship stores can have an annual business volume of hundreds of millions of yuan, becoming the global store king of Nike.

People shopping at the Nike store in Badaling Outlets on the weekend

Shang Xiuli, the deputy secretary-general of the China General Chamber of Commerce and the president of the Outlets Branch, has visited at least 80 Outlets across the country. She not only studies the Outlets business format but is also a loyal user of Outlets. She summarized three characteristics of Outlets consumption: low-frequency consumption, purposeful consumption, and high customer unit price. According to statistics, the average customer unit price in Outlets is much higher than that in traditional stores. The average customer unit price of some flagship projects can be as high as 500 to 1,000 yuan or even higher.

"You can buy expensive things, but not at a high price." Under the consumption concept of pursuing cost performance, the discounted prices in Outlets obviously awaken more young people to flock to Outlets.

Cao Huijun, the deputy general manager of Wangfujing Outlets, told "Chaosheng TIDE" that the original consumer group of Wangfujing Outlets was concentrated in the 35 to 45 age group, but now the proportion of consumers aged 25 to 35 has increased significantly. Xing Long, the general manager of Beijing Spring Outlets, also noticed that since the epidemic, the "strongest curve" of the consumer age in Spring Outlets has shifted from 35 to 32 years old. "The peak has shifted forward by three or four years."

The brands entering Outlets are also being updated.

In addition to the original light luxury brands such as COACH, MK, and Swarovski that are常驻 in Outlets, the "middle-class three-piece set" that has been popular in the past two years, "Ralph Lauren, lululemon, and Arc'teryx," has been testing the waters in Outlets stores. Outside the Arc'teryx store in Badaling Outlets, as long as it is the weekend, guests who want to go into the store to shop can line up from morning to night.

In July this year, lululemon opened its first Outlets store in Beijing in Badaling Outlets, offering discounts of 5 to 70% on some items. A 10% discount is given for three items, and an 20% discount is given for more than five items. The discounts attracted a large number of young people and scalpers to rush to buy. Many guests who failed to make an advance reservation lined up outside the store. The fitting room is limited to 15 minutes, and a maximum of 8 items can be tried at a time. A netizen entered the store as soon as it opened at 9:30 in the morning and didn't check out until 2:00 in the afternoon.

The lululemon Badaling Outlets store on the opening day

The staff on duty in the store said, "There are a lot of people from morning to night, as if they are buying things for free. Are people really experiencing a consumption downgrade?"

The middle class who have left luxury brand counters are bottom-fishing in Outlets

Shopping in Outlets doesn't necessarily mean a consumption downgrade, but for the middle class who are experiencing a consumption downgrade, they will definitely go to Outlets.

Saina is keen on "treasure hunting" in the famous brand area. In the summer, she spent nearly 20,000 yuan in Outlets at one time. These 20,000 yuan would probably only be able to buy one bag in a regular-price store, but in Outlets, she can buy 2 GUCCI bags, 2 scarves, 1 shoulder strap, and 2 dumpling bags found in the Longchamp Outlets store.

Saina's spoils

After all, the pursuit of quality of life by the middle class has not changed much. After no longer wanting to buy regular-price items at the counters, some people are addicted to bottom-fishing and finding bargains in the luxury stores in Outlets.

Zhen Zhen, 28 years old, @Nuyoah, has been frequenting Outlets since last year. When she goes to Badaling Outlets, she only visits the international famous brand area. Each time, she spends at least 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, and sometimes as much as 10,000 to 20,000 yuan.

Zhen Zhen just got out of the failed wedding dress store and sold her Land Rover to pay off her debts. She became one of those who said they were experiencing a consumption downgrade in her own words. She used to spend more than 40,000 yuan to buy a Lady Dior bag at the Dior counter. Now, she is pleasantly surprised by the rich variety of products available in the GUCCI Outlets store. "If it's for giving as a gift, they can also pack it nicely."

"When I go to the counter to buy a bag again, I feel something is not right. I always feel that I'm paying too much. So I'll wait and wait until it's available in the Outlets to buy it." Zhen Zhen said that the GUCCI Outlets store often offers a 50% discount, and the luxury goods are updated quickly.

It's not an isolated case that people are moving from luxury brand counters to Outlets.

The consumer group of Outlets is undergoing a major shake-up. Xuanxuan, 34 years old, @Outlet_CiCi, a salesperson at the Boutique Collection Store in Lanzhou Shazhichuan Outlets, is acutely aware of this.

Compared with the old customers in the past, her online customers are obviously younger, mostly post-90s and post-00s, and there are also many international students. "They like to buy Burberry, GUCCI, YSL, etc., and the discounts are basically around 20%. This year, the company purchased new shoes, clothing, and bags of Miu Miu, and they are also very popular."

The Burberry Badaling Outlets store

In the just-ended September promotion, she was originally set to sell 260,000 yuan, but she finally sold 400,000 yuan. This is a performance that can earn her a monthly salary of 20,000 yuan. Compared to the entire domestic luxury goods sales this year, this performance can also outperform many counter salespeople in regular stores.

Unlike regular stores, Outlets stores have their own operating strategies. Many salespeople in Outlets have their own private WeChat groups. In order to buy discounted big brands with high cost performance, many customers will also actively add the salespeople's WeChat to facilitate future repurchases.

Xuanxuan also has her own private WeChat group. Since the beginning of last year, there have been more than 200 people in the group. Since the beginning of 2023, her old customers have experienced a cliff-like loss. After the loss of old customers, Xuanxuan's main battlefield has shifted to online.

An increasingly obvious trend is that whoever does well online will have better performance. Xuanxuan's performance is the best among the 6 salespeople in the store, and 90% of her performance comes from online transactions. Therefore, most of her time in the store is spent shooting videos and operating her Xiaohongshu and Douyin accounts.

Xuanxuan packing the clothes bought by online customers in the store

Online operations increase repurchases, and offline services provide sufficient emotional value. Compared to regular-price stores, the luxury stores in Outlets are much more flexible. Every time Zhen Zhen comes to the store, the salesperson greets her with a compliment mode, "You are so fair, so tall, and so beautiful." Every word praises Zhen Zhen to her heart's content. "In Outlets, whether I buy or not depends on whether I'm excited."

Zhen Zhen wants to pick a wallet to give as a gift. The salesperson immediately pulls out a drawer of wallets and checks them one by one for her until she is satisfied. "The service in the store is almost as good as that in a fast-fashion store. Basically, they will do whatever you ask and almost show you all their inventory."

Some brands that have seen a decline in sales in regular-price stores have become popular in Outlets.

On weekends in the international famous brand area of Badaling Outlets, there are often long queues in front of the Burberry and GUCCI stores. This year on Qixi Festival, Zhen Zhen queued in front of the Burberry store in the 37-degree heat in Beijing for 50 minutes but still didn't get in.

Shang Xiuli told Chaosheng TIDE that in the luxury field, many international luxury brands are cautious about opening Outlets stores due to concerns about the scarcity and high positioning of the brand. However, the domestic Outlets distribution channels are strong. Some Boutique Outlets introduce brand direct-sale stores