July 5, 2023, China — Florentia Village, the authentic Italian designer outlet brand operated by commercial real estate group RDM Asia, today announced its results for the 2023 Dragon Boat Festival holiday, showing strong overall performance and growth in both revenue and visitor numbers. During this year’s holiday period, total revenue and traffic at Florentia Village outlets in mainland China increased by nearly 20% compared to the same period in 2022. Among the six mainland China outlets, Florentia Village Beijing-Tianjin saw significant growth in both revenue and customer numbers, Florentia Village Shanghai saw its revenue grow for the second consecutive year, Florentia Villages in Chongqing and Chengdu saw growth in customer numbers, and Florentia Villages in Guangzhou-Foshan and Wuhan delivered stable performance. The steady growth follows a good first half of the year from Florentia Village, which reported strong results during this year’s Spring Festival and Labor Day holidays. Further growth is expected to continue in the second half of the year as the recovery in China’s consumer economy picks up momentum.
Florentia Village Beijing-Tianjin and Shanghai post strong performance and growth
With new boutiques opening at both outlets during the Dragon Boat Festival, Florentia Village Beijing-Tianjin and Florentia Village Shanghai posted the strongest performance of all six Florentia Village outlets in mainland China, making up significant contributions to Florentia Village’s overall growth during the holiday.
Florentia Village’s first outlet in China, Florentia Village Beijing-Tianjin Florence celebrated its 12th anniversary in June this year. The outlet is home to over 300 boutiques, including top luxury brands such as Christian Louboutin, Loewe, Max Mara, Jimmy Choo, Roger Vivier, Tod’s, Valentino and more. To thank consumers for their continued support during the past 12 years, the Village hosted a 12th anniversary shopping spree in June with the theme ‘In the Name of Love’. Thanks in part to these promotions, sales at the outlet during the Dragon Boat Festival increased by 90% compared to the same period in 2022, with customer traffic increasing by 110%.
Earlier this year, Florentia Village launched its ‘To Love, Together’ public welfare initiative, teaming up with model and actress Bonnie Chen’s Star.Bunny.Love Children’s Mental Health Care Action to create a platform for members of the public to support mental wellbeing for children. During the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, Florentia Villages in Shanghai and Wuhan implemented their own public welfare activities and hosted charity auctions to support children with autism.
Florentia Village Shanghai posted strong performance during the holiday, recording its second consecutive year of growth with around 20% increases in revenue and traffic compared with the same period last year as it continues to lead the outlet market.
Offline events at Florentia Village Chongqing and Chengdu draw in the crowds
Since the opening of Florentia Village outlets in Chengdu and Chongqing, Florentia Village has continued to bring consumers in Southwest China upgraded shopping experiences built around authentic Italian style, romantic design, diverse brand choices, large discounts, and comprehensive customer services.
During this year’s Dragon Boat Festival, Florentia Village Chengdu and the ‘Sichuan and Chongqing Region Corgi Owners Society’ teamed up to host the Corgi Water Splashing Festival, inviting hundreds of corgis and their owners enjoy a selection of fun pet activities alongside the river bank. Activities included the cute pet market, make-your-own zongzi, the pet wishing pool, pet group photos, corgi birthday parties, as well as the refreshing debut of the Corgi Water Splashing Festival and the Corgi Swimming Competition. In addition to the fun and diverse activities, the opening of a new NIKE store at the Village brought consumers even more choice during the Dragon Boat Festival shopping season.
Over at Florentia Village Chongqing, the outlet collaborated with the Consulate General of Italy in Chongqing to host a series of tiramisu making workshops, giving consumers the chance to the create and sample the legendary Italian dessert during the traditional Chinese holiday known for its snack-making activities. With their array of diverse and interesting events, Florentia Village Chongqing and Chengdu attracted large numbers of consumers during the holiday. The former reached a double-digit growth in traffic for two consecutive years, pointing to strong future growth potential in these markets.
Florentia Village Guangzhou-Foshan and Wuhan show steady progress as they continue to improve the customer experience
During the holiday, Florentia Village Guangzhou-Foshan maintained stable performance following a double rebound in revenue and traffic last year, while Florentia Village Wuhan saw its second consecutive year of increased traffic, reflecting the continued growth potential in the market.
As part of its celebrations this year, Florentia Village Guangzhou-Foshan was transformed into a music festival with two popular local radio hosts taking to the stage to put on an unforgettable show. Three-hundred fans were also invited to the Village to sing classic Cantonese songs together and create a full festival atmosphere across the outlet.
Florentia Village has strong partnerships with many well-known brands and is home to a large number of exclusive outlet stores at both the regional and national level. Florentia Village outlets are constantly enriching their brand lineup to bring consumers more diverse choices, and during this year’s holiday, both Florentia Village Guangzhou-Foshan and Florentia Village Wuhan introduced new brands and upgraded stores that ultimately helped to boost performance at the outlets.
With a variety of experiences and special offers at all six of its mainland China outlets, Florentia Village continued to attract visitors from far and wide to deliver steady growth in performance over the holiday. This year, Florentia Village owner, Italian commercial real estate group RDM Asia, celebrates twelve years in the China market. With both challenges and opportunities continuing to coexist in the outlet industry, Florentia Village will remain focused on delivering on its original vision while growing through innovation as a market leader, including expansion into digital and online channels and ongoing improvements to multi-channel new retail experiences.
At the same time, Florentia Village is adapting to the changing shopping habits of Chinese consumers by developing more diverse retail models, including new breakthroughs in online shopping through the exclusive WeChat mini program ‘Florentia Village outlet GO’, to provide consumers with a more convenient, high-quality, and diverse multi-channel shopping experience. With its commitment to evolving to meet the changing needs of Chinese consumers, Florentia Village is currently on track to deliver its 2023 annual revenue target of over RMB 13 billion yuan and 26 million visitors, making the brand a clear leader in China’s outlet market.
Jacopo De Vena, Managing Director of Florentia Village and RDM Asia said, “2023 is a special year for Florentia Village. Following celebrations for the 12-year anniversary of Florentia Village Beijing-Tianjin in June, our outlets in Chengdu and Chongqing will celebrate their 6-year and 2-year anniversaries in the second half of the year. After more than twelve years of extensive growth and investment in the China market, Florentia Village has laid a solid foundation for our future sustainable growth in the market. Looking ahead, with the continued growth of the Chinese economy and consumer market, we will further expand our brand portfolio and increase our footprint in China. At the same time, we will continue to use innovation to develop our online and offline channels to bring our signature one-stop Italian retail-tainment, new retail, and sustainable lifestyle experiences to more consumers as the leading international outlet brand in China.”
