Burberry offering ‘biggest discounts ever’ in Hong Kong as brands try to pull back shoppers

British luxury brand Burberry has joined Prada and Gucci in offering discounts of as much as 50 per cent in its Christmas sales, the steepest reductions since the Individual Visit Scheme for mainland tourists was launched in 2003, underlining the depth of the retail slump in Hong Kong.

The sales started two days ago, a staff member at Burberry’s Causeway Bay store told the Post. She said only around 10 types of handbag and some clothing items are carrying the discounts.

“I haven’t seen such a deep discount since I started working here” she said , adding the biggest was 30 per cent in the past.

Burberry launched its annual Christmas sales in late November with initial discounts of as much as 40 per cent on selected items, rising to 50 per cent this week. Its iconic small Orchard leather bag, which was priced at HK$16,000, is now selling for HK$8,000.

“A 50 per cent discount is unusual for big luxury brands like Burberry” said Hayman Chiu, associate director at Cinda International, adding that it was the biggest price cut for Burberry that he could remember since the visitor scheme launched.

“The whole luxury industry is doing the same thing right now,” he said, referring to the similar discounts by Prada and Gucci .

Three American brands, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Coach, are currently offering discounts of as much as 50 per cent. European brands such as agnès b, Longchamp and Balenciaga have reductions of 40 per cent.

The discounts for most of those brands are deeper than last year, according to sales staff at the Sogo department store.

Brands are also resorting to discounts after falls in the Japanese yen and euro this year prompted mainland shoppers to avoid Hong Kong.

The strong Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to the US dollar, has made luxury goods more expensive than in Japan and Europe, said Mariana Kou, retail analyst at brokerage CLSA.

However, a deeper discount isn’t a always a draw.

Louisa Cheung, a local shopper in the Burberry store in Causeway Bay yesterday, ended up buying nothing. “Deeper discounts only work for customers who are loyal to the brand,”she said.