Premium Liquor Market Shows Recovery During Holiday Season Despite Lower Prices Than Previous Years

Deep News
09/27

Liu Bing has been in the liquor business for many years. Two years ago, he opened a tobacco and liquor store in Yubei, Chongqing, becoming a franchisee of a certain liquor chain.

However, over the past six months, the market downturn dampened his enthusiasm. He rarely updated his social media, posting only a few times a month, and recently took his family on a trip to Beijing to unwind.

But in the last two weeks, Liu Bing has "returned" to social media. Last week, he shared a video of Liu Qiangdong toasting with Ji Keliang, and in recent days, he has been posting Mid-Autumn Festival marketing posters from various liquor brands.

Liu Bing told reporters that recently there have been more customers inquiring about prices and purchasing liquor. "We have Feitian, Puwu, 1573, and some Qinghua Lang. They're mainly for gift-giving and entertaining guests, but the quantities are small - customers buy only what they need."

"Lying low during the off-season, working hard during peak season" - this describes many liquor dealers this year.

Since the second quarter, demand for premium liquor at business banquets has declined significantly. High-end liquor sales at tobacco and liquor stores have been sparse, with businesses relying on mass-market bottled liquor and promotional mid-to-high-end liquor to maintain cash flow.

With the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays approaching, reporters visited over a dozen retail outlets in Chongqing's Yubei and Shapingba districts, including large chain supermarkets, local supermarkets, liquor chains, and community tobacco and liquor stores. Based on feedback from various terminals, liquor sales at supermarkets and liquor stores have shown clear recovery over the past half month. However, prices for high-end and mid-to-high-end liquor this year are generally lower than previous years, and overall sales remain below the same period last year. One liquor chain reported double-digit declines in holiday orders compared to last year.

With weak business demand, all liquor companies are placing greater emphasis on marketing for Mid-Autumn reunions and banquet consumption. While premium liquor sales are recovering, prices remain highly sensitive to market changes. However, in a market facing declining and suppressed demand, achieving both volume and price growth for liquor has become more challenging than in previous years, leading to clear strategic differentiation among brands of similar grade and type.

**Premium Liquor Demand Recovers, Prices Remain Below Previous Years**

Liu Bing's tobacco and liquor store is located near Chongqing's Central Park commercial district, surrounded by new and relatively new residential complexes built after 2015. His customers mainly consist of local small and medium-sized business owners and community residents.

He noticed that price inquiries have increased significantly over the past ten days, with purchases also recovering, concentrated in premium brands. "Feitian, Puwu, and Guojiao are the most popular, with some Qinghua Lang as well. Since Mid-Autumn Festival is mainly for gift-giving and National Day involves more gatherings, customers recognize these brands," Liu Bing said. "Feitian prices rose by 20-30 yuan this week."

A 1919 store in Chongqing University Town reported selling several bottles of premium liquor daily over the past two weeks, with four to five bulk orders received.

At a nearby Yonghui Supermarket, a staff member responsible for liquor sales recommended Wuliangye's eighth-generation double-bottle gift set with accessories, stating that recent promotions result in at least one set sold daily.

The staff member noted that among premium liquors in the store, Jiannanchun 1573 and Wuliangye sell best, with orders of four to five cases per week.

Meanwhile, Feitian Moutai is currently out of stock. "We previously sold it at 1,499 yuan per bottle, but we don't know when the promotion will be available again."

Due to weak business banquet demand, this year's holiday liquor marketing has focused more on Mid-Autumn gatherings and holiday banquets. Recently, Kweichow Moutai, Wuliangye, Yanghe, and other liquor companies have launched online and offline Mid-Autumn marketing campaigns.

Wuliangye is collaborating with CCTV for the third time on a Mid-Autumn gala. Kweichow Moutai's recently launched 1935 Premium Edition has become a sponsor of the 2025 Greater Bay Area Film and Music Gala, with recent app splash screen advertisements.

Yanghe is primarily promoting its mid-to-high-end flagship Mengzhilan M6+ and this year's upgraded seventh-generation Haizhilan, partnering with RT-Mart for tasting and lottery promotional activities across 118 stores in Jiangsu.

Reporters found that this year's popular products from Kweichow Moutai series, Wuliangye, Langjiu, Yanghe, and Jiannanchun all have banquet policies. A JD Wine World store mentioned that for a mid-to-high-end product, purchasing 5 cases offers an 80 yuan discount per bottle, bringing the actual price per bottle to under 300 yuan - a low price in recent years.

"Recently, 80% of customers buying liquor use it for gatherings or banquets, and leftover banquet liquor can be returned," said another community tobacco and liquor store owner. In Chongqing's banquet market, Honghua Lang, Shuijing Jian, and Yanghe Haizhilan are the most common banquet liquors.

However, almost all terminals reported that while demand has warmed up recently, premium liquor prices have only risen slightly without significant increases. Since after Spring Festival, overall liquor market conditions have continued declining, accelerating in the second quarter. Even with recent recovery, prices remain below Spring Festival levels and last year's National Day period.

In tobacco and liquor stores and liquor chains visited by reporters, Feitian Moutai prices range from 1,900 to 2,000 yuan across different terminals, with daily fluctuations of 10-20 yuan. At most terminals, Feitian Moutai prices still change daily.

A staff member at a leading liquor store in Chongqing University Town noted that this year, prices for Feitian original cases and individual bottles show virtually no difference.

Other products similarly show little growth. Only one local tobacco and liquor chain mentioned that Jiannanchun 1573 prices increased by 30 yuan from the previous week. Conversely, multiple stores reported recent Wuliangye promotions offering more attractive pricing.

**Channel Caution and Brand Differentiation**

Due to weak demand, downstream terminals are increasingly reluctant to stock inventory.

Based on feedback from terminals visited by reporters, some terminals order only one month in advance, with some community tobacco and liquor stores stocking only 3 cases of each premium liquor brand. For Feitian, which sees faster price changes, terminals generally avoid stocking and only source products when customers confirm purchases.

A liquor chain staff member explained: "Before liquor prices dropped two years ago, most wholesale purchases from manufacturers were settled monthly, reducing store pressure. Now that liquor prices have fallen, manufacturers have changed procurement methods, offering purchase prices based on total store order amounts without returns."

This change actually gives platform-backed liquor chains greater advantages.

The aforementioned JD Wine World store manager revealed that JD's platform provides procurement price subsidies to distributors, with price differences covered by subsidies, allowing stores to maintain stable retail prices.

Notably, brands are showing strategic differentiation.

With the holidays approaching, wholesale prices for eighth-generation Wuliangye and Jiannanchun 1573 have become hot industry topics. Due to Jiannanchun 1573's highly stable wholesale prices this year, the wholesale price gap between these two major luzhou-flavor flagships has narrowed significantly. In previous years, eighth-generation Wuliangye typically enjoyed wholesale price advantages of tens or even hundreds of yuan over Jiannanchun 1573.

However, industry observers note that recent different price trends for premium flagship products reflect different brand strategies, with various brands having different priorities between sales turnover and price stability. As multiple terminals confirmed to reporters, Wuliangye has shown good recent sales performance.

Compared to the stable positions of "Yi Mao Wu" (Moutai and Wuliangye), price gaps for other premium liquors have widened further.

Based on the reporters' visits, among leading jiangxiang-flavor flagship products besides Feitian, Qinghua Lang's recent terminal prices range from 790 to 900 yuan, while Junpin Xijiu prices range from 650 to 900 yuan. Kweichow Moutai 1935 has seen slight recent recovery, with terminals quoting mostly around 700 yuan.

"Among these three, Qinghua Lang sells best with the highest recognition - most customers know this brand," said staff at both 1919 and JD Wine World stores.

Despite market recovery, channels remain highly cautious about future prospects.

All stores confirmed to reporters that while there is recovery, this year's holiday sales will certainly fall short of last year's. "This year's holiday order volume shows roughly double-digit decline," stated a national liquor chain store.

Liu Bing also noticed that customers generally purchase smaller quantities this year, even during the recent peak season. "Customers buy only what they need - almost no one stocks cases like in previous years, except for banquet purchases."

Combined with increasingly frequent e-commerce promotional competition from online platforms, liquor dealers dare not harbor high expectations for market conditions.

Liu Bing shared a Meituan flash delivery promotion page for 1,499 yuan Feitian purchases scheduled before National Day. "Look, here it comes again. These promotions happen regularly - how can we compete with that?"

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