(Yicai Global) June 1 -- Shanghai’s Double 5 Shopping Festival, introduced in 2020 to help reignite consumption in the aftermath of Covid-19, has helped increase daily sales in brick-and-mortar stores by 33.6 percent from a previous shopping gala in August last year, according to the latest data.

Some CNY8 billion (USD1.1 billion) a day was spent in offline stores in the city from April 29 to May 28, a third more than another shopping gala which ran from Aug. 1 to Aug. 30, 2022, according to data from the Consumer Market Big Data Laboratory Shanghai.

More than 1,000 activities were held to promote consumption, Yicai Global learned at a press briefing yesterday. Sales at 250 large retailers jumped 16 percent from the same time last year and footfall soared 31.5 percent. Sales at 40 business clusters climbed 18 percent and footfall surged 33.2 percent.

The Shanghai life service consumption index rose 32.9 percentage points over the period May 1 to May 28 from a year ago, according to takeout giant Meituan. The tourism consumption index, catering consumption index and leisure and entertainment index climbed 9.8, 30.2, and 38.8 percentage points respectively.

Tourism has also made a strong comeback in Shanghai since the beginning of the year.

Revenue at Shanghai’s main tourist attractions more than doubled in the first quarter from the same period in 2022 and also from the same period in 2019 to CNY4 billion (USD562.6 million), according to the Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism. Visitor numbers jumped 81 percent. Both footfall and revenue set record highs in the first three months.

Shanghai raked in tourism revenue of CNY18.9 billion (USD2.7 billion) during the five-day Labor Day holiday last month, according to the Shanghai Big Data Lab. The main tourist attractions received nearly 6.4 million visitors. Some 836,000 people visited the theater and over 1.3 million went to art galleries, museums and cultural centers. Performances took in over CNY110 million (USD15.5 million) at the box office.

In June, the Double 5 Shopping Festival will continue to launch a series of events in conjunction with major holidays such as Children’s Day on June 1, Father’s Day on June 18 and the Dragon Boat Festival on June 22.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor