Holiday demand boosts swimwear sales

Flight ticket bookings for the Tomb-Sweeping Day holiday have already exceeded the number seen during the same period two years ago, according to Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.

Much of the demand has been centered on the tropical islands in Hainan province. Besides the resort city of Sanya and the provincial capital Haikou, bookings are also surging for hotels in Qionghai, Lingshui and Wanning, according to Qunar.

Meanwhile, the increase in air travel has reduced the seasonal impact of swimsuit sales in China. Before 2017, the peak sales period for swimsuits occurred in May, and in recent years, the peak period starts in April and lasts till July, according to data from Edited, a market intelligence platform.

"A variety of scenarios that are suitable for people to play with water and wear swimsuits have emerged, and it will stimulate spending on swimwear. The supply chain of swimwear in China has fully resumed after the pandemic, and the domestic market is gradually warming up," said Li Jincan, an analyst at the LeadLeo Research Institute, a market research provider.

"With more available scenarios to wear swimsuits and diversified appreciation of beauty by Chinese consumers, swimsuits are no longer the sole functional apparel. Seaside trips, outdoor events, fashion shows and daily life activities can all help create demand for swimsuits," Li said.

"Chinese consumers are pursuing increasingly high-quality and personalized products. The demand is expected to help stimulate the emergence of more high value-added products," she said.

Compared with their counterparts in Europe and the United States, Chinese consumers have been relatively more conservative. Swimsuit styles and choices of sizes by Chinese brands can better meet the demand of domestic consumers, she added.

In 2019, Balneaire held a fashion show in Shanghai, and it matched swimwear tops such as bandeaux with bottoms like jeans and skirts, which has provided more options to consumers.

Balneaire now has more than 50 brick-and-mortar stores nationwide. This year, it plans to bring its total number of stores to more than 200.

It has more than 10 stores in Hainan, and will open more on the island. In addition, it plans to focus on opening more outlets in warm places such as Guangdong and Fujian provinces.

The company said it would cooperate with major e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD and Vipshop, and launch a large number of promotional activities such as livestreaming sessions during the summer.

On its official store on Tmall, an e-commerce shopping platform of Alibaba Group, sales of Balneaire during the annual shopping day extravaganza on Nov 11 last year topped other brands in the swimwear category, according to the company.