Major retailers are gearing up for sales next month, confident that people are ready to “revenge shop” after COVID-19 suppressed consumption in the first half of the year.
Far Eastern Sogo Department Store (遠東Sogo百貨) plans to launch its anniversary sales event Thursday next week, which will run through Nov. 16, Sogo chairperson Sophia Huang (黃晴雯) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The department store chain has a sales target of NT$10.8 billion (US$373.6 million) for the annual event, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
Declaring that “the worst is over” with regards to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Huang said that Sogo would be offering heavy discounts targeting consumers who have been unable to go abroad to shop this year.
“Last year 4 million Taiwanese went abroad in the fourth quarter. This year we will work hard to bring them to our stores,” Huang said.
After being cooped up at home in fear of COVID-19, Taiwanese are ready to shop with a vengeance, Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) chairman Douglas Hsu (徐旭東) said.
Photo: CNA
“My kids in New York tell me that some people still will not wear masks and the streets are empty,” Hsu said. “Well, here in Taiwan it is safe to gather and we can look forward to revenge shoppers boosting our revenue for this year’s event.”
Online retailers are also tempting consumers with deals starting from Nov. 11. The Double 11, or Single’s Day, sales event has become popular over the past few years.
Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體), the nation’s largest TV and online retailer, said that is predicting 50 percent year-on-year growth for this year’s Double 11 sales.
The company has prepared for the rush by augmenting logistics, warehouse space and staff, as well as building a second data center, Momo president Jeff Ku (谷元宏) told a news conference.
Ku said that he is looking for growth in “all categories.”
With e-commerce taking up only 2 to 11 percent of the retail market, there is a lot of room for it to develop, he said.
Momo’s revenue in the first three quarters grew 29.51 percent year-on-year to NT$46.52 billion, company data showed.
“Only 10 percent of that is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rest is our own growth,” Ku said.
PChome Online Inc (網路家庭), another leading e-commerce platform, plans to capitalize on the Double 11 shopping festivities with “online to offline” events in conjunction with partners such as Global Mall (環球購物中心).
In addition to discounts, the pop-up events are to include prize draws, a concert, taste tests by Michelin chefs and in-store treasure hunts, PChome said.
PChome chief executive officer Kevin Tsai (蔡凱文) said that his company wants to “erase the boundary between online and offline shopping.”
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