Relaxed, refined — foreign visitors impressed by 'shopping paradise'

While strolling around Shanghai's trendiest shopping precinct on their visit, Vietnamese couple Nhu Truong and Tu Vo had an unexpected opportunity to take part in an exciting new retail trend.

In upmarket Shanghai Xintiandi, the two 30-year-olds noticed a store of Harmay — a Chinese multi-brand retailer known internationally for its warehouse-style approach to sales.

Vo, an investment manager at a bank in Vietnam, said that before their five-day Shanghai visit they had watched many TikTok videos of people shopping in Shanghai who shared information about buying reasonably priced cosmetics.

"We were just walking around and I noticed the store's name, which is so familiar. So we immediately went inside to buy something," Vo said.

In addition to cosmetics, the couple purchased skin care and health products, including mini and travel-size items, hallmark products of the company.

Established in 2008, Harmay started out as an online cosmetics retailer. However, to attract a younger trend-driven generation of consumers they subsequently introduced warehouse-style shopping at offline stores.

Harmay offers over 800 global brands and has more than 25,000 stock-keeping units, a unique code used to identify each product in its inventory. With monthly updates of over 1,000 products, it keeps expanding its product inventory to not only include leading brands, but also many unique and niche ones from China and overseas.

This strategy to quickly update its product lines and its wide range of selections have boosted brand recognition among global consumers. Harmay has over 1.5 million followers on social media platforms, and its membership now exceeds 4 million customers worldwide.

It has 19 brick-and-mortar stores in 10 cities across China featuring unique designs tailored to local cultures. They have become popular destinations for international tourists seeking unique travel and shopping experiences.

As China draws increasing numbers of inbound travelers, Harmay has seen a sharp growth in inbound consumption at all its stores. In June, over 30 percent of its Shanghai Xintiandi store revenue came from international travelers, with tourists from the Middle East and Asian countries including South Korea and Singapore, the top shoppers.

Since the store launched a departure tax refund service on June 19, it has issued more than 2,000 applications for international visitors.