The virus has trapped US$111bil of luxury spending in China; shoppers turn to e-commerce, livestreaming

Luxury bags sit on shelves in the livestreaming room at a second-hand luxury goods platform in Beijing. Chinese shoppers desperate for certain items are turning to second-hand luxury platforms to procure them, fueling a surge of investment in such startups. — Bloomberg

Jeff Meng, a 25-year-old watch lover from a well-heeled Guangdong family, had 160,000 yuan (RM97,483) burning a hole in his pocket. He could not find the Rolex Daytona watch he wanted, dubbed “panda” for its black-and-white face, anywhere in China.

Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic that’s halted travel and disrupted networks of parallel importers, Chinese high-end shoppers like Meng – who collectively spend US$111bil (RM474.35bil) a year on luxury goods, powering over a third of the global industry – are finding it hard to spend their cash.