Macao’s retail sector has experienced solid sales growth following the dismantling of the city’s zero-Covid policy, experts say, and prospects look even brighter with the tourism and gaming industry in full swing, and consumer spending rebounding. That’s the assessment of the head of the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) office in Macao, Bernard Li, and his Hong Kong-based colleague Michael Cheng.
The two presented a talk entitled “How will the Evolvement of Chinese Consumers’ Behaviour Impact Macau’s Retail Sector?” at the monthly breakfast meeting of the France Macau Chamber of Commerce (FMCC), held this morning at the Sofitel.
Li was upbeat, noting total visitors to Macao now stood at “around 70 percent” of their pre-Covid levels and that “more and more hotels will open in the next two years.”
Cheng meanwhile made various comparisons between Macao and Hong Kong’s retail industry, and observed that Macao was doing much better than its neighbour, with a higher tourist-to-resident ratio.
He observed that “retail in Macao will grow exponentially in the next 5-10 years,” and presented data that showed luxury goods “bouncing back exponentially,” with watch and jewellery sales at the top and jewellery stores expanding in the city.
[See more: Visitors are spending more than they did pre-pandemic, new data shows]
Towards the end of the presentation, Cheng shared some strategies that retailers can adopt to increase sales, which included brand story-telling and to be wary of investing too much in the latest technology. “Technology is so fast,” he said. “If you spend too much on one thing, you’ll regret it.”
The talk concluded with a short Q&A session, during which one attendee asked about the role of Hengqin in Macao’s retail market. Li suggested that Hengqin’s impact is currently minimal as it “is still more of an office-related site.”
Cheng, on the other hand, revealed that he had spoken to Hengqin government officials and said that “They want to attract international brands” in the medium term.
Previous FMCC breakfast talks have also focused on the topic of retailing and consumers. The next FMCC talk is scheduled for 13 December and will feature a presentation about AI and its global impact.
