DJs targets tourism

David Jones is reaping the rewards of a two-year campaign targeted at the lucrative Chinese consumer market.

Australia recorded a 20% increase in Chinese visitors to one million in 2015, with spend doubling to $7.7 billion.

David Jones merchandise executive Donna Player said these figures continue to encourage investment in services, products and marketing.

In 2013, the department store was among the first to introduce Union Pay as a method of payment.

“We have experienced significant growth in these payments,” Player said.

“For the last quarter, it was up 400% on the same quarter last year.”

Other key investments have included over 200 Mandarin-speaking staff in prime locations such as Melbourne City and Sydney City.

“They have a really strong representation in beauty, luxury accessories, our personal shopping suites and international designer departments, where we service the largest volume of non-English speaking Chinese consumers.”

Dual language signage, Mandarin-only makeup classes and the appointment of a Chinese marketing consultancy firm have rounded up the strategy.

“The first and most obvious initiative was identifying the Chinese name for David Jones and making sure it was linked to our website.”