Chapter 898: The Saint Dynasty
On the second day after Boxing Day, the media all over the UK, and even all of Europe, were bombarded.
Since the European debt crisis, the British economy has been sluggish, and domestic consumption has never been able to recover before the economic crisis.
Although in 2014, among many EU countries, the British economy took the lead in recovering, its growth momentum was gratifying, and it can be said to be a unique one. The manufacturing and financial services industries all grew steadily, but domestic consumption did not show much growth. improvement.
But at the end of the year, first it was Black Friday, and major merchants stepped up promotions one after another. Then, before Christmas, there was a pre-holiday madness, which greatly stimulated domestic consumption in the UK.
This makes other countries in the entire EU very envious.
But it was Boxing Day that really took everyone by surprise.
The total sales of 3 billion pounds in a single day not only created the highest single-day sales record in the UK since the European debt crisis, but also created the craziest Boxing Day sales record in history.
This caused the whole of Europe to exclaim that the British have returned to the level of consumption before the crisis.
The well-known accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers even predicted that with the astonishing momentum in November and December, the annual growth rate of the UK's gdp will reach 3%, taking the lead in realizing recovery and successfully standing firm heel.
The south coast city of Southampton has managed to capture the spotlight across Europe amid one of Britain's wildest Boxing Day sales frenzy.
The outbreak of Glory Plaza on Boxing Day can be described as a sudden birth.
The turnover reached 120 million pounds, and it attracted 320,000 people to enter and exit throughout the day. These two figures are the highest in the UK, making Glory Square in Southampton the most eye-catching consumption hotspot in the UK.
You know, the McDull Hall Shopping Center in Sheffield is ranked second, with a total of only 200,000 people entering and leaving throughout the day, and a total sales volume of less than 50 million pounds.
But Southampton's Glory Plaza not only surpassed its opponents in terms of number of people, but also more than doubled in sales.
In the analysis report of PricewaterhouseCoopers, it was pointed out that the outstanding performance of Glory Plaza did not come out of nowhere.
"In fact, according to the data we have obtained, since the trial operation began in May, the sales of Glory Plaza have maintained a steady increase, especially when there are competitions, the sales will increase significantly. Much higher than usual."
"this circumstance occurs,
It comes down to the business model of Glory Plaza. "
"Saints Southampton pioneered the free ticket mechanism. There is only one way for all fans to get tickets, and that is to accumulate fan points after consumption in Glory Plaza and other Saints authorized stores. , and then go to the club to redeem free tickets and season tickets."
"In recent years, the Saints Southampton's performance has improved by leaps and bounds. First, they have made a step up every year, and they have been promoted every year. In the first season of entering the Premier League, they even won the league championship as a newly promoted team. Last season, they were even more successful. While successfully defending the Premier League title, he also won the first UEFA Champions League title in club history!"
"Excellent results have greatly stimulated the fans. In addition to moving into a new stadium this season, the fans are full of enthusiasm for watching the football. In order to get free tickets, they have gone to the Glory Plaza to spend. This has greatly stimulated the popularity of the Glory Plaza. Sales."
"On Boxing Day, the Glory Plaza just ushered in a strong dialogue between the Saints and Chelsea, which greatly attracted the attention of the fans. After the game, the six-goal victory stimulated the fans even more. The sales forecast of about 100 million pounds was constantly broken by enthusiastic consumption frenzy, and finally locked in at 120 million pounds."
"It is worth mentioning that, according to the data we have obtained, on Boxing Day in the UK, the per capita consumption was about 200 pounds, but in Southampton's Glory Square, the per capita consumption was as high as 380 pounds, almost twice the UK average."
"The reason for such an astonishing gap is that, according to our analysis, 10 percent of the consumers in Glory Plaza are tourists from overseas, most of whom are from China, the Middle East and North Africa, and the per capita number of tourists from China is The consumption level is as high as 1,000 pounds."
"We have heard from some multinational travel agencies that Southampton has gradually become the first choice for Chinese tourists to spend in the UK. This is not only because the owner of Glory Plaza is Chinese, but also because it has the best football stadium in Europe and the world's largest football stadium. The top underwater hotel, and because everything here seems to be tailor-made for them, shopping here makes them feel very comfortable and at ease."
"Not only that, in order to attract Chinese tourists, Glory Plaza has offered ultra-low discounts one after another. The discounts for all luxury goods in Harrods Mall are less than 50%, which is quite favorable. Moreover, the current decline in the exchange rate of the British pound has made Chinese Tourists are very willing to take advantage of Boxing Day to come to the UK to find bargains."
"In an interview with us, the relevant person in charge of Glory Plaza said that from Christmas, Boxing Day to New Year's Day, their entire shopping carnival has been planned for half a year. Before and after, there will continue to usher in a consumption boom.”
After PwC's analysis report came out, the seaport city of Southampton, as well as Glory Square, immediately became famous in Europe and became very popular.
The facts also proved that the prediction of the management of Glory Plaza was not wrong.
The sales frenzy on Boxing Day was more like a carnival of advance payment. After a carnival, various consumer indexes in the UK have declined, and almost all major shopping malls can’t sell.
But in this case, Southampton's Glory Square is still a unique team and has become a special case.
On the second day after Boxing Day, although the sales of Glory Plaza also fell sharply, they still remained at around 30 million pounds, which is considered a pretty good sales figure in the UK.
But on the third day, that is, the 28th, sales rose again, approaching 70 million pounds, a bucking trend.
This surprised the entire British business community and the media.
Even on the 29th, 30th, and 31st days, the sales of Glory Plaza remained at around 40 million pounds.
And in the three days from New Year's Day to January 3rd, it rose again, reaching 60 million pounds.
After that, it will not work, and it will fall all the way, returning to the usual level.
But even so, during the entire Saints shopping carnival, in ten days, Glory Plaza generated sales of 550 million pounds.
This is simply a pretty amazing report card!
Not only the UK, but even the whole of Europe, were taken aback.
After in-depth analysis by professionals, all talents were surprised to find that a large part of the sales boom of Southampton Glory Plaza were tourists from abroad, especially tourists from China and the Middle East.
"According to the analysis of the data of Glory Plaza, the per capita consumption of tourists from China is as high as 1,500 pounds. Although the number is small, it accounts for 25% of all foreign tourists' consumption, far exceeding Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar became the most generous guests of the Saints shopping carnival."
"Tourists from China and the Middle East also account for a large proportion of the sales of Glory Plaza. In addition, in the past six months, Glory Plaza has stepped up publicity efforts in China and the Middle East. The madness and heat of a shopping carnival."
Not only that, the media also dug into the news that the organizer of Glory Plaza is cooperating with the British Hotel Association, retail industry and business groups to issue an initiative, hoping that the UK can streamline visas for Chinese tourists.
"Due to the inconvenient visa procedures, many Chinese tourists choose to go to Milan, Paris or Berlin for shopping and consumption, which at least costs the UK more than one billion pounds a year."
"With the Boxing Day frenzy at Southampton's Glory Square, Chinese tourists have shown the world their incredible spending power."
"It is reported that next year's Milan World Expo, Italy will open the World Expo channel exclusively for Chinese tourists, while France, Finland and other European countries will also launch considerate services for Chinese tourists, and Germany will also seriously consider streamlining the visa issuance process."
"Under such circumstances, British Home Secretary Theresa May also said in an interview that the government is also seriously considering and will launch a series of new plans to attract Chinese tourists in the near future, including a visa system."
When this series of news from Europe came back to China one after another, it immediately caused an uproar in the country.
Chinese local tyrants have bought all over the world, so that the high-ranking European governments have to introduce a preferential system with Chinese characteristics, which makes the domestic people very excited.
Among the reports of many domestic media, Southampton's Glory Square, and Yang Huan behind it, are all attracting attention in this storm of public jubilation.
As a result, Southampton has even become another popular tourist destination for Chinese people going to the UK and Europe.
...
In this wave of shopping spree triggered by Boxing Day, the Premier League is still going on in an orderly manner according to the schedule.
After Southampton beat Chelsea with six goals, on the 28th, they beat the visiting Gunners Arsenal 2-0, and then beat Crystal Palace 3-1 in the away game, winning their three-game winning streak. Firmly defend the throne of the league leader.
After that, in the League Cup and the FA Cup, although the Saints played with their main players, they still won the opponent without any risk.
After the main force got a full rest, Southampton beat Manchester United 1-0 in the away game.
After that, they beat Newcastle 2-1 away, drew Swansea 1-1, drew 0-0 with Queens Park Rangers, beat West Ham 3-0, Liverpool 2-0, and Westbrook 1-0. Romwich.
In January and February, the Saints' performance in the Premier League can be said to be the best.
After the February schedule, Southampton once again defended the Premier League title, which has not much suspense.
This also shocked the British media.
But after their in-depth analysis, it is not difficult to find that the strength of the Saints comes from their own strength on the one hand, but a very important reason lies in the decline of the traditional top four of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
The newly emerging Manchester City has a lot of problems. The team lineup looks strong, but in fact it is weak in competition. In the short term, Tottenham Hotspur will not be able to compete with Southampton for the time being.
Therefore, after five years of painstaking efforts by Bielsa and Yang Huan's continuous large-scale investment, the strength of the Saints has been steadily improving. Recently, there is a faint tendency to dominate the Premier League and establish a Saints dynasty.
This point is also quite obvious in the Champions League.
In the knockout round of the top 16, the Saints first drew 1-1 away with Paris Saint-Germain, and then won 2-0 at home against the Ligue 1 squad, and finally advanced to the quarter-finals with a total score of 3-1.
However, Manchester City, which stood out from the group stage, was beaten by Barcelona in the group stage. When Arsenal faced Monaco, they first lost 1-3 at home and then lost 2-0 away. The total score was 5-0. A disastrous exit.
Koeman's Monaco has become the most dazzling dark horse in the Champions League.
But behind this is the decline of the Premier League powerhouses.
Southampton seems to have become a lone wolf in the Premier League's Europa League.
The consequence of this is obvious, that is...
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