Shopping ‘craze’ in Shanghai

Many Shanghai residents rushed to shop on the first day the city lifted the blockade. Shops and businesses here are busy preparing to catch the “fever” of consumption, which is expected to explode in the near future.

The blockade order in Shanghai, effective from March 28, is an affirmation of China’s determination to pursue a zero Covid strategy. However, the epidemic prevention measures in Shanghai are somewhat draconian. Many other cities to fight the super-contagious strain of Omicron has left many serious economic consequences.

Consumer spending in Beijing has fallen, unemployment has risen, and small businesses have faced immense pressure. China’s retail sales fell 11% in April year-on-year in 2021, the steepest drop in more than two years.

Adam Cochrane, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Research, said that the consumer boom in China may not be as strong as 2020. “The severity of the blockade measures, besides the uncertainties. The stability related to the future of epidemic prevention policy in China will make consumers feel insecure,” he shared.

Stores in Shanghai will only open up to 75% of their capacity, while many other services, including restaurants, will remain closed. People living in residential areas with confirmed cases will continue to live in lockdown. To use public transport, people need to have a negative test result within 72 hours.

“Vehicle traffic on the road is increasing gradually, but people are still worried about the risk of infection,” said Luca Solca, Analyst at Bernstein. “As a result, they also go to public places less often.”

Owner of a cafe in Huangpu district, Shanghai shared with Financial Times that she has never rested her hands since reopening at 9:00 am on June 1. She only received the notice that she was allowed to reopen from the authorities the night before. “Everything was so unexpected,” she said. “I haven’t changed my biological clock yet.”

Social media users are even planning to spend heavily after the blockade with a long list of restaurants they will frequent.

In a post on Weibo, the Shanghai Hot Information account, which has more than 1 million followers, shared images of long queues of shoppers gathered in front of Hermès, Céline and Dior stores in the high-end Plaza shopping mall. 66.

Although many brick-and-mortar stores have reopened, the interest in online shopping has not abated, especially when the second biggest shopping festival of the year called “618” is coming. near the. JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce business, said that the revenue of some technology brands such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, Apple and Huawei has surpassed 100 million yuan (equivalent to 15 million USD) only. 10 minutes after opening for sale on May 31.

According to Trong Dai