Qixi Festival boosts retail sales rebound in China
The Chinese celebrate Valentine’s Day on 3 different dates.
There is the February 14th Valentine’s Day, ‘520’ (May 20th) which phonetically sounds like ‘I Love You’ in Chinese, and the Qixi Festival, which celebrates the annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl in mythology.
Not only does it give people all the more reason to frequently show their love for each other on these dates, these dates are also great for retailers, who market goods and services tailored for these celebrations. The proof is in the numbers. Leading up to the Qixi Festival, JD.com saw a 280% jump in their Valentine’s related search keywords.
LUXURY BRANDS GO DIGITAL FOR QIXI FESTIVAL
The competition between luxury brands for Chinese consumers’ share of wallet has become even more heated with the prolonged impact of Covid. Brands have tapped into new and creative ways to celebrate the Chinese legend behind the Qixi Festival, with Prada releasing its “Modern Love Stories” campaign, where the campaign film retells the story of how the separated lovers’ journey to their emotional reunion. Of course, this was accompanied by an exclusive range of men’s and women’s items to celebrate the date, which was launched on the brand’s WeChat Mini Program on August 3rd ahead of the official August 25th Qixi Festival date.
Prada launched ‘Modern Love Stories’ to celebrate the Chinese legend behind the Qixi Festival. Source: JingDaily
Other luxury brands like Michael Kors, Fendi, and Celine also worked with their Chinese celebrity ambassadors to drive awareness and launch their Qixi Festival campaigns. Saint Laurent launched their ‘Name Your Love’ campaign, which allowed shoppers to personalize the brand’s signature hoodie with their English and Chinese names. All of the brands incorporated a digital eCommerce shopping component as well, with limited capsule collections or exclusive items launching through WeChat Mini Programs and/or Weibo.
Saint Laurent launched its first-ever personalization service in China for Qixi. Source: JingDaily
QIXI PROPELS LV SHANGHAI STORE TO RECORD SALES
Louis Vuitton’s flagship store located at Shanghai Plaza 66 saw record-breaking sales of $21.7M for the month of August (source: JingDaily), fueled by the Shanghai Men’s Fashion Runway Show, travel restrictions pushing shoppers to buy domestic, and the tail-end of August with the Qixi Festival where shoppers lined up to buy gifts for loved ones.
ROSEONLY SEES 200% SALES INCREASE FOR QIXI
ROSEONLY is a brand selling beautifully arranged flowers, and what better than flowers to gift your loved one for Qixi? The brand partnered with male celebrity Xiao Zhan for a one-hour Livestream, which resulted in 8.529M views, 635K comments, and 300M likes. It also increased online sales by 201% and offline sales by 50% YOY.
ROSEONLY leveraged the popularity of their brand ambassador to drive online and offline sales for Qixi this year/
If you missed out on this year’s Qixi Festival and didn’t plan a campaign or tailored marketing efforts, get in touch with us today at info@catalystagents.com so our Chinese Marketing Specialists can provide recommendations to fit your business strategy.