Spring Festival sparks retail boom for foreign brands in China

China

Spring Festival sparks retail boom for foreign brands in China

2025-01-22 22:06 Last Updated At：23:07

As the Spring Festival approaches, major foreign brands in China are launching a series of innovative marketing campaigns including exclusive limited-edition products and pop-up events to drive up sales.

The Spring Festival, which marks the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the biggest annual holiday in China, when people across the country return to their hometowns for Lunar New Year celebrations and family reunions. This year, it falls on Jan 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

Selling Spring Festival limited edition items has become standard practice for most foreign retail brands operating in China. For instance, ZARA has opened a pop-up space at the Bund, while Inditex Greater China's President, Eugenio Bregolat Lukashov, revealed that it's the fourth year they're collaborating with local designers in China during the Chinese New Year.

"It's a very important moment of the year for us and for brands in general here in China. And it's going to be the first time that we're going be doing a multi channel livestreaming. In the previous three collaborations that we did, we were extremely satisfied with the results that some of them get sold out in minutes," Lukashov said.

Many foreign brands have discovered that Spring Festival is also attractive to foreign buyers.

This is the seventh year the Lego Group has been producing the Chinese Traditional Festival series. It's definitely one of the best selling products, according to Xu Zhida, Senior Brand Manager at the LEGO Group.

"Every year, the Chinese traditional festival series got sold out in the first three months of the year. But we are seeing that we started as from China for China series, but now we're seeing a lot of like global attention about this product. So, last year when we launched the auspicious Dragon, actually the U.S. market also went crazy about it. So, we are like seeing that these series can really achieve the goal to, from China for global, to have a bigger impact for the Chinese festival among the globe," said Xu.

And as it is the start of a new year, many foreign brands have already put their plans for 2025 in motion.

"China is a very important strategic market for us. We get a lot of inspiration from the Chinese market as well. And we will also continue to invest in our new stores. Next year in March, we have our Asian flagship opening in Nanjing, including the first ZaCafe in China. Next week, we will be opening a brand new image store for MassimoDutti in Chongqing. And in May, we will be opening new stores in Xi'an and Tianjin," said Lukashov.

Iranians in Türkiye return home, fearing for their families amid unrest in Iran

Some Iranians in Türkiye are crossing back over the border, driven by worry and desperation, as a nationwide communications blackout in Iran has left them cut off from their loved ones.

Protests have erupted in many Iranian cities since Dec. 28. They initially began with Tehran bazaar merchants demonstrating against the sharp devaluation of the national currency rial, and soaring inflation, before spreading to other cities. The unrest has led to casualties among both security forces and civilians.

At the Turkish-Iranian border, many are returning with no certainty about what awaits them, filled instead with questions and growing fear for those on the other side of the border.

"I went to Van yesterday for internet. I urgently needed to use the internet. I got it done. Now I'm heading straight back. There are protests everywhere. We can't get any news. We can't communicate with our families. And it's not just me, there are many Iranians outside the country who can't reach their families," said Feriste, an Iranian citizen.

With communications blacked out across Iran, those outside the country feel powerless to check on the situation back home. For some, this silence has prompted them to return across the border, even as tensions continue to rise.

"We can't get any news. There is no internet. Everything is shut down. I want to search. I want to find out. I want to see my brother. I'm going to see my family," said Husnu, an Iranian citizen.

"I work in Türkiye, and I have no news from Iran at all. I'm going back because I'm worried about my family. It's been days since I last heard from them, and because I'm worried, I'm returning to Iran now. Of course, we are concerned about our safety. We don't know what awaits us there," said another Iranian.

With protests escalating and government blackouts still in place, many Iranians are caught between staying in safety abroad and risking everything to reconnect with their families.

"We had to come to Türkiye because we couldn't reach our families. Schools were closed already. All official institutions were shut down. We have no information about other cities either, because there is no communication network there. There is no television, no internet. We can't even check Twitter," said Nazlican, another Iranian citizen.