CHINA. China Duty Free Group has unveiled its first-ever CDF ‘Watch Carnival’ at five duty free stores in Hainan province – its downtown shops in the CDFG Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex, Bo’ao and Haikou; and its operations at Sanya Phoenix International and Haikou Meilan International airports.
Under the theme ‘表里如一，珍爱一生’ (‘Eternal Love Comes from Within’), the inaugural Watch Carnival showcases a dazzling array of luxury wristwatches and offers an array of high-quality and exclusive duty free services.
Throughout the carnival, purchases of designated amounts will entitle shoppers to exclusive services such as five-star hotel suite stays, and complimentary dinner and afternoon tea treats. Additional benefits include multiplied CDF membership bonus points (tripled on certain high-end purchases), discounts and gifts with purchase.
Thanks to its strongpartnerships with leading global watch brands, CDFG has launched several CDF-exclusive limited-edition watch models. These include the China market debut for the latest Montblanc Summit Lite Smart wristwatch, unveiled on 20 March through a 100-piece allocation exclusive to CDFG. The Hermès H08 series is being released through CDFG on 7 April as part of the new model’s global debut.
CDFG said that the Watch Carnival and the inclusion of such a strong range of prestigious watches underlines the quality of its duty free offer in terms of brand variety and value, making its store “the watch-shopping paradise of choice”.
Since the implementation of the enhanced offshore duty free policy in Hainan last July, the island has witnessed a new wave of duty free shopping, CDFG pointed out.
“Seizing the opportunities brought by the new policy, CDFG always upholds its customer-oriented way of doing business, constantly introducing new wristwatch brands and enriching its shopping channels by dedicating itself to bringing consumers a more diverse range and enhanced services,” the retailer said.
Underlining its growing stature as a luxury watch retailer, CDFG hosted the inaugural Watches & Wonders Sanya in partnership with Richemont and Foundation de La Haute Horlogerie at the Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex from 29 September to 31 October last year.
Visitors at the CDF Mall in the Haitang Bay complex were able to view luxury collections from A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, Cartier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, Piaget, Hermès, Montblanc, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin.
Celebrating a decade of offshore duty free
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the offshore duty free policy [CDFG introduced its first offshore duty free store in downtown Sanya on 20 April 2011 -Ed] and CDFG said that it is honouring the occasion by constantly innovating and striving to improve its business operations.
Such developments are complemented by a wide range of interactive marketing activities and the ceaseless strengthening of cooperation with brands, tourism-related companies and many other sectors, CDFG noted.
In turn, this has allowed consumers to purchase an impressively wide and diverse array of famous international brands at affordable prices, amid an upgrading of the overall consumer experience, CDFG said,
New pick-up centre unveiled
The retailer has also worked hard to improve logistics and ease customer convenience.
A new airport pick-up centre (pictured below) was opened on 23 February, featuring a doubling of the number of pick-up windows to 22. The facility provides enhanced pick-up, return and other services for customers. Crucially, it has shortened the pick-up waiting time, leading to a more convenient and high-quality duty free shopping experience.
CDFG said that as a result of several years’ international development and competition, its purchasing, operational, digital and marketing capabilities have all been enhanced.
“In the future, with the generous support of our parent company China Tourism Group, CDFG will further intensify cooperation with all parties, introduce more brands and limited-edition products and provide more affordable prices to meet the needs of Chinese consumers,” the company concluded.
“Simultaneously we will continue to accelerate our online business transformation and continue to upgrade and grow our activities.”
Note: Every fortnight The Moodie Davitt Report publishes Hainan Curated, in association with Foreo, a curated selection of all recent stories from the offshore duty free sector. Click here to subscribe free of charge and to view all back issues.
