What: Chinese sales associates often go above and beyond and are key to brands hitting increasingly ambitious sales targets.

Why is it important: During the first lockdowns in China, sales assistants at luxury boutiques found ways to stay in close contact with their clients, mostly via WeChat, offering special services and promotions. Even as stores re-opened the initiative continued and their rapport with clients deepened. In some cases, luxury consumers in China now consider their sales associates to be someone with whom they have a meaningful relationship. Asking how beneficial it is for the luxury brand is complicated.

These communications aren’t limited to products and promotions but cover day-to-day topics. SAs are welcomed by consumers, who see it as a sign of how valued they are, by their SA and by the brand they are working for.

Luxury brands have recognised the growing importance of these staff members, and it’s difficult to overstate how important SAs have become as part of the Chinese luxury consumer journey over the past few years. Wages, in some cases bonuses, for frontline retail staff in China have risen significantly in recent years as a result.

It’s easy to see how the boom of China’s unique luxury service culture can be a win-win for both the sales assistants and customers.

These relationships are of course very beneficial to help boost sales, and for local management. However, this intimate customer service dynamic can present significant challenges as it places the relationship with the customer in the hands of the sales assistant, giving the brands less direct control.

Another headache for brands, an arguably more pressing and potentially contravenes some luxury companies’ ethics policies, is the gifting that goes on between customers and their SAs in order to seek favour.

The solution starts with added awareness of the problem and brands having the managers put a higher priority on the wellbeing of their SAs. They should provide more support for SAs and shift KPIs to consider the out-of-hours work sales assistants do, the conflict of interests that is sometimes inherent and the high expectations placed on them by consumers.

Sales Associates and China’s luxury retail boom