Bosideng: Taking advantage of London to enter the high-end market

London has become a popular area for Chinese tourists to purchase luxury brands, so the Chinese men's brand Bosideng opened a store in the West End of London to enhance its domestic brand image. This is the first Chinese clothing brand to open a store in London.

The first British store that Bosideng opened on Friday is adjacent to London's Bond Street. Bosideng’s move is not so much to appeal to British customers as it reflects the growing international appeal of the British fashion industry.

Gao Dekang, the rich founder and chairman of Bosideng, said: “Our ambition is to become a well-known brand, and London is a global fashion center.” Gao Dekang described Bosideng with nearly 11,000 stores in China as “China’s M&S Department Store. (Marks & Spencer)". Bosideng enters the European market and seeks to create a high-end image. It wants to challenge brands such as Hugo Boss.

Bosideng has spent 30 million pounds (just a fraction of its gross profit of 418 million pounds last year) to build this luxury flagship store in Mayfair, London. Its "European headquarters" is located on the upper store floor, showing the company's Great ambition.

Bosideng plans to work with an Italian company to open a store in Italy next year, and it will soon acquire a shop on Fifth Avenue in New York.

Gao Dekang hopes to increase brand image in this way and increase Bosideng's position in the eyes of Chinese tourists (not British customers) in the UK - this is extremely important - so that they can go to their shops after returning home.

Paul French, Mintel’s chief China market analyst, said: “Bosideng’s move aims to show off its wealth and show that it is a luxury brand. It is for overseas Chinese tourists and it is not yet an international brand. It seems like an international brand on the occasion. Bosideng is not really trying to sell things to the British."

French said that China's milk company Erie’s move during the London Olympics was based on similar reasons - it advertised Chinese in Chinese on the bus body of London.

Other Chinese companies followed Bosideng's footsteps. Gao Dekang said that five Chinese retailers have already visited him. All of these companies are interested in opening stores in London and hope to learn more about him.

Tom Troubridge, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) China Business Group, said that Chinese companies’ interest in entering the UK market has increased significantly.

He said: "The number of companies that inquired about such matters has increased significantly. At present, we receive two or three such consultations per week, and only two or three cases a month ago five years ago."

Trubridge said: "We have found that the interest is focused on high-end brands ranging from motorcycles to handbags, women's wear and wine. It is not because they believe that there are excellent opportunities for growth in the UK, but that they are looking for opportunities to bring back. Domestic products and services."

Chinese companies are looking for opportunities to target the more affluent consumers in their home markets and compete with Western design brands to win the favor of China's growing middle class.

However, Trubridge said that Chinese domestic brands are often inferior to British companies in terms of design, creativity and newness.

The brand heritage is very important to the quality perception of Chinese luxury consumers. This helps explain why 90% of Bosideng's clothing is produced in the UK or Europe - something unusual for the British fashion industry.

However, not only retailers seek to cater to overseas Chinese tourists.

Trubridge said that a Chinese customer asked PricewaterhouseCoopers to help buy a hotel chain in the UK to cater to the expected increase in Chinese tourists. Chinese tourists may feel more comfortable in Chinese-run hotels.