As its sales look set to fall for a third straight year, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group has launched a chain of lower-priced stores in Mainland China.
Its Monologue outlets will stock jewellery with an average price of 2000 yuan (US$291), about a third of the prices at the company’s flagship Chow Tai Fook-branded stores, says MD Kent Wong.
Its first Monologue store has opened in Shenzhen, with up to six more planned for this year in such cities as Dalian and Wuhan.
“Chow Tai Fook is actively turning the brand image younger and more diversified,” says Wong. “We don’t expect the new shops to provide huge sales contributions as they are selling lower-priced products, but we have to do it or we’ll lose the young customers.”
Chow Tai Fook has more than 2000 jewellery and high-end watch outlets, mainly in Greater China. In Hong Kong, where it is based, sales have been falling for the past 21 months as fewer Mainland Chinese tourists visit.
Analyst Hannah Li of UOB Kay Hian in Hong Kong says Chow Tai Fook is going down-market to seek new momentum as the high-end jewellery market is obviously losing customers because of China’s long-term anti-corruption trend and consumer preference changes.
