Despite lacklustre consumer sentiment, businesses are gearing up for brisk sales as consumers do their Chinese New Year (CNY) shopping for the much celebrated festival next week, with many businesses citing CNY as an important sales contributing season. LG Electronics Malaysia general manager of marketing Kong Mun Keen said festive season campaigns, whether CNY or Hari Raya, contributes bigger sales for LG.
“We often see a spike in sales whenever festive seasons are fast approaching,” he said, adding that this year, LG Electronics Malaysia has allocated a “substantial amount of budget” for its CNY campaign.
Although only a month into 2019, he said LG Electronics is “on the right track” in terms of sales.
By distinguishing itself with its technology and product experience, Kong said LG’s strategy has always focused on reaching out to all Malaysians, evident through its brand store openings in 2018, where it works with partners to drive new consumer touchpoints.
“Malaysia has always been a priority market, given that LG has secured and maintained a strong position in the home appliances and home entertainment segments here. With our premium and unique positioning coupled with innovative and consumer-centric products line-up, we are confident that there will always be a demand for our products here,” said Kong, adding that it is constantly ensuring that its products can integrate seamlessly into consumers’ lives.
For big-ticket items like cars, Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd (ETCM) executive director Tan Keng Meng expects its CNY sales to be about the same as last year’s or better.
“It’s always CNY and Raya. These are the two peak seasons,” said Tan.
In conjunction with CNY, ETCM added the new imperial red colour to the popular Nissan Serena 2.0L S-Hybrid Premium Highway Star, featuring a two-tone theme. Additionally, ETCM continues the introduction of Nissan X-Trail X-Tremer in passion red and two additional colour options.
Meanwhile, a Uniqlo Malaysia representative said festive periods are traditionally good opportunities for retailers to grow their sales, adding that it continues to experience healthy sales growth this year.
“We believe this is due to our commitment to produce high-quality products at accessible prices while keeping with today’s fashion trends. Customer service is also a top priority to ensure that our customers have the best shopping experience possible.”
As with previous years, it believe that customers are always looking for something new and fresh to start their new year.
“We are bringing many new items to the store for customers to choose. We will also be launching the Uniqlo U collection on Feb 1 for last minute shoppers to get their new year clothes.”
The representative said customers are consistently looking for items that are value for money and Uniqlo is well positioned to meet their needs.
Tohtonku Sdn Bhd head of marketing Vicky Lim said CNY is one of the peak seasons for sales with its back-to-back promotions in December and January.
But instead of spending on CNY promotional campaigns, Lim said, the company, which markets personal care and household products with brands like Follow Me, Nutox and Nanowhite, still focuses on brand communications.
A representative for The Body Shop said although CNY is not its largest festive season sales contributor, it dresses up its stores with decorations that symbolise the blooming of spring and the festive mood of CNY.
“We offer prosperous gifts such as hampers. This year we picked British rose as the main product that appeals to a wider target audience and with its colour of pink, it’s in line with the colour scheme that represents CNY.
“Our staff are also dressed in mandarin Oriental tops and we play both instrumental and vocal music that reminds you of CNY.”