Chapter 898： Dynasty of Saints

On the second day after Boxing Day, the media all over the UK and even all of Europe froze.

Since the European debt crisis, the British economy has been sluggish, and domestic consumption has never recovered before the economic crisis.

Although in 2014, among many EU countries, the UK economy took the lead in recovering and its growth momentum is gratifying. It can be described as a standout group. The manufacturing and financial services industries have grown steadily, but domestic consumption has not been much. improvement.

But at the end of the year, first on Black Friday, major merchants increased their promotional efforts, and immediately before Christmas, staged a pre-holiday madness, which greatly stimulated domestic consumption in the UK.

This makes the rest of the European Union very envious.

But it was Boxing Day that really surprised everyone.

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 ever.

This made the whole of Europe exclaimed that the British have returned to their pre-crisis consumption levels.

The well-known accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that under the astonishing momentum in the two months of November and December, the annual GDP growth rate of the United Kingdom will reach 3%, which is the first to achieve recovery and successfully stand firm heel.

In the wildest boxing day sales frenzy in the UK, the amazing performance of Southampton, a city on the south coast, has successfully attracted attention from all over Europe.

The explosion of Glory Square on Boxing Day can be described as a sudden birth.

With a turnover of 120 million pounds and attracting 320,000 people in and out of the country throughout the day, these two figures top the UK, making Southampton's Glory Plaza the most eye-catching consumer hot spot in the UK.

You know, the McDull Mall in Sheffield ranked second, with a total of only 200,000 people in and out throughout the day, and total sales of less than £50 million.

But Southampton's Glory Plaza not only surpassed its opponents in number, but also more than doubled its sales in terms of sales.

In the analysis report of PwC, it was pointed out that the outstanding performance of Glory Plaza was not unexpected.

"In fact, according to the data we got, since the trial operation started in May, the sales of Glory Plaza have maintained a steady increase, especially when there are competitions, the sales will be large. Much higher than usual."

"This situation is due to the business model of Glory Plaza."

"Saint Southampton pioneered the free ticket mechanism. All fans who want to get tickets have only one way, and that is after spending at Glory Plaza and other Saints authorized shops and accumulating fan points. , 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 step by step year by year, and successfully upgraded year by year. He entered the first season of the Premier League and won the league championship as a promoted horse. While successfully defending the Premier League title, he won the first Champions League in club history!"

"The outstanding results have greatly stimulated the fans. Coupled with the move to a new stadium this season, the fans have been enthusiastic about watching the game. In order to get free tickets, they have to go to Glory Plaza to spend, which greatly stimulated the glory of the Plaza. Sales."

"On Boxing Day, 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 and made the original one. The sales forecast of around £100 million was constantly shattered by the enthusiastic consumer frenzy, and finally locked at £120 million."

“It’s worth mentioning that according to the data we got, the per capita consumption on Boxing Day in the United Kingdom was about two hundred pounds, but in Southampton's Glory Square, the per capita spending was as high as three hundred and eighty pounds, almost Twice the British average."

"The reason for such an astonishing gap, we have analyzed, among the consumers of Glory Plaza, 10% of them are tourists from overseas, most of them are from China, the Middle East and North Africa, and the average tourists from China The consumption level is as high as 1,000 pounds."

“We got news 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 a Chinese, but also because it has the best football stadium in Europe and the world The best undersea hotel, because everything here seems to be tailor-made for them. Shopping here makes them feel very comfortable and assured."

"Not only that, in order to attract Chinese tourists, Glory Plaza has offered ultra-low discounts. The discounts on all luxury goods in Harrods Mall are below 50%, which is quite favorable. Moreover, the exchange rate of pound sterling has fallen, making China Tourists are very willing to take advantage of Boxing Day and come to Britain to shop for 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, they planned the entire shopping carnival for half a year. It is expected that on the 28th, the Saints will host Arsenal and New Year's Day. Before and after, there will continue to be a consumption boom."

After PwC's analysis report was released, the seaport city of Southampton and Glory Plaza immediately became famous in Europe and became very popular.

The facts have also proved that the estimation of the management of Glory Plaza is not wrong.

The sales frenzy on Boxing Day is more like a carnival in advance. After a carnival, various consumer indexes in the UK have fallen, and almost all major shopping malls can’t sell.

But under this circumstance, Southampton's Glory Plaza is still a standout, becoming a special case.

On the second day after Boxing Day, although the sales of Glory Plaza also fell sharply, it still remained at around 30 million pounds, which is already quite good sales data in the UK.

But on the third day, that is, on the 28th, sales rose again to nearly 70 million pounds.

This surprised the entire British business community and the media.

Even in the three days of 29th, 30th and 31st, the sales of Glory Plaza remained at around 40 million pounds.

In the three days between New Year's Day and New Year's Day, it rose again, reaching 60 million pounds.

It won't work anymore, and it has fallen all the way back to its usual level.

But even so, for the entire Saints Shopping Carnival, Glory Plaza generated sales of 550 million pounds in ten days.

This is simply a pretty amazing report card!

Not only in the UK, but also in Europe as a whole, were taken aback.

After in-depth analysis by professionals, all the talents were surprised to find that most of the people supporting the sales boom of Southampton Glory Plaza are tourists from abroad, especially tourists from China and the Middle East.

"Analyzed from 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 have become the most generous guests of the Saints Shopping Carnival."

"And tourists from China and the Middle East account for a large proportion of the sales of Glory Plaza. In addition, in the past six months, Glory Plaza has increased its publicity efforts in China and the Middle East. This has contributed to the Saints Crazy and hot at the shopping carnival."

Not only that, the media also dug into the news. The organizers of Glory Plaza are jointly launching an initiative with the British Hotel Association, retail industry and business groups, hoping that the UK can streamline visas for Chinese tourists.

"Due to the inconvenience of visa procedures, many Chinese tourists choose to go to Milan, Paris or Berlin for shopping and consumption, which at least cost the UK more than one billion pounds a year."

"With the madness of Boxing Day in Southampton Glory Plaza, Chinese tourists have demonstrated their amazing spending power to the world."

"It is reported that at the Milan Expo next year, Italy will open up an Expo channel specifically for Chinese tourists, while France, Finland and other European countries will also provide considerate services for Chinese tourists. Germany will also seriously consider streamlining visa issuance procedures."

"Under this circumstance, British Home Secretary Theresa May also stated in an interview that the government is also seriously considering that it will launch a series of new programs to attract Chinese tourists in the near future, including a visa system."

When this series of news from Europe spread back to China, it immediately caused an uproar in the country.

Chinese local tyrants buy all over the world, so that the superior European governments have to introduce a preferential system with Chinese characteristics, which makes domestic people excited.

Among the many domestic media reports, Southampton's Glory Square and Yang Huan behind them all attracted attention in the joy of the people.

Southampton has even become another popular tourist destination for Chinese people going to Britain and Europe.

...

In this shopping spree triggered by Boxing Day, the Premier League is still proceeding in an orderly manner according to the schedule.

After Southampton beat Chelsea with six goals, on the 28th, it won the visiting Gunners Arsenal 2-0, and then beat the Crystal Palace 3-1 away in the away game, winning the three-game winning streak of the Christmas Devil schedule. Firmly defend the throne of the league leader.

Afterwards, in the League Cup and FA Cup games, the Saints still managed to win their opponents without any risk even though they did their best to play.

After the main force got a full rest, Southampton beat Manchester United one-to-zero away.

After that, they beat Newcastle two to one away, and drew Swansea one to one. The Queens Park Rangers drew zero to zero. They defeated West Ham United 3-0, Liverpool beat Liverpool 2-0, and Westbrook 1-0. Romwich.

In January and February, the performance of the Saints in the Premier League can be described as full of ups and downs.

After the schedule in February, Southampton once again defended the Premier League title, there is not much suspense.

This also shocked the British media.

And when they analyzed in depth, 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 new rise of Manchester City is not a small problem. The team seems to have a strong lineup, but the competition is actually weak, and Tottenham Hotspur cannot compete with Southampton in the short term.

Therefore, after five years of painstaking management in Bielsa, after Yang Huan has invested heavily in the strength of the Saints has been steadily improving. Recently, they have faintly ruled the Premier League and established the dynasty of Saints. trend.

This point is also quite obvious in the Champions League.

In the knockout round of the 16th round, the Saints first drew with Paris Saint-Germain with a 1-1 away game, and then defeated the French Banba at home 2-0. Finally, with a total score of 3-1, they successfully advanced to the quarter-finals.

However, Manchester City, who stood out from the group stage, suffered a double defeat by Barcelona in the group stage. When Arsenal faced Monaco, they first lost a 1-3 at home and then lost a 2-0 away game, with a total score of 5 A dingy and dismal exit.

Coman's Monaco has become the most dazzling dark horse in the Champions League.

But behind this, it is the decline of the Premier League giants.

Southampton has become a lone wolf in the Premier League against Europa.

The consequences of this are obvious, that is...

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