Retail sales in Shanghai up 22% over May Day holidays

KUALA LUMPUR: Shanghai's retail sales jumped 22% during the May Day weekend holiday in China, the highest jump since 2005 -- as more tourists thronged the city for the World Expo and more consumers opened up their wallets, said the ShanghaiDaily.com.

The city enjoyed sales of 4.1 billion yuan (RM601.96 billion) at the 480 local large and medium retail businesses during the holidays, the the ShanghaiDaily.com reported the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce as saying on May 5.

The 22% y-o-y growth was 7.9 percentage points higher than the May Day holiday last year. Average daily sales at 826 million yuan were more than four times that in 2000.

Consumers were enticed to spend from as early as April 10, with various promotions that were combined with the 2010 World Expo, which opened on Saturday, May 1.

Especially popular was The Shanghai New World department store on Nanjing Road W, which recorded a daily traffic of more than 100,000 persons. The mall's sales bloomed by 14% to 62 million yuan during the five-day holiday.

Meanwhile, consumers bought 20 million yuan worth of licensed souvenirs at the Expo site during the first three days of the holiday.

Gold and jewellery were the most popular products, with sales soaring 53.5% over the holidays.

The Nextage Department Store in the Pudong New Area, Shanghai Outlets in suburban Qingpu District and Oriental Shopping Centre in the Xujiahui commercial area were the top-three shopping malls by sales of Bailian Group, China's biggest retailer. The Nextage recorded sales of 107 million yuan.