Back to school sales are in full gear as Western-style hypermarts joggle to win over students stocking up on school supplies and home electronics.
Over the last few weeks foreign mega-stores like UK-based Tesco Stores Co Taiwan (
"Back-to-school is a very important sales campaign in Tesco UK stores, and therefore our management team has transferred their experience to Taiwan starting last year," Sarah Wu (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Entering Taiwan in 2000, Tesco currently has outlets in Taoyuan and Tainan, with a 100 percent share in and management control over its Taiwanese subsidiary.
The French management team at RT-Mart is also looking to capitalize on the millions of Taiwanese -- from kindergarten to college -- heading off to school in September.
"This is a new idea we learned from our foreign partners last year ? in Europe [our parent group] even offers "back to school shopping lists" for the convenience of customers," said Fiona Wang (王彤芳), a RT-Mart manager.
Establishing its first outlet in 1997 through the Taiwan-based Ruentex Group (
Wang explained, purchasing school supplies is a annual shopping event that was previously accomplished by parents running from store to store to find all their different needs.
"Hypermarts have the edge in offering one-stop-shopping at wholesale prices," she stressed.
Carrefour, well-versed in back to school sales, said the company did benefit from the campaign.
"This is the annual peak in selling school supplies, and sales [of this category] at this period account for 30 percent annual school supplies sales," said Lilian Lee (
In addition, our monthly sales jump some 20 percent because of this event.
School bags, lunch boxes and stationery splashed with popular cartoon characters such as Spiderman and South Park go over bigtime with elementary and high school students.
For freshmen just entering college and move out from parents' places, small appliances and computers are hot choices.
"Students always have tight budgets and look for durable stuff that will last them through their college years,? therefore hypermart is the best place to go, Lee added.
Entry-level desktop computers priced around NT$20,000 also hot items in hypermarts, with all three companies aiming to sell thousands of desktops during the run up to the ringing of the school bells.
Retailers also make use of the student surge to push electronic dictionaries, stereos, small refrigerators as well coffee makers to students.
"This has become a good opportunity not only for students but also for the general public to buy consumer electronics," RT-Mart's Wang said.
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