Chapter 898 Saints Dynasty

On the day after Boxing Day, media all over the UK and even Europe were in an uproar.

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

Although in 2014, the UK economy was the first to recover among many EU countries, with an encouraging growth momentum, making it a standout, with areas such as manufacturing and financial services growing steadily, domestic consumption has not seen much improvement.

However, at the end of the year, first on Black Friday, major businesses stepped up their promotional efforts, and then before Christmas, there was a pre-holiday frenzy, which greatly stimulated domestic consumption in the UK.

This makes other EU countries 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 set the record for the highest single-day sales in the UK since the European debt crisis, but also set the record for the craziest Boxing Day sales in history.

This caused the whole of Europe to exclaim that the British have returned to their pre-crisis consumption level.

The famous accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers even predicted that with the amazing momentum in November and December, the UK's annual GDP growth rate will reach 3%, making it the first to achieve recovery and successfully gain a foothold.

Amid the UK's craziest Boxing Day sales frenzy, the south coast city of Southampton's amazing performance has successfully attracted the attention of the whole of Europe.

The explosion of Glory Square on Boxing Day can be described as something that came out of nowhere.

The turnover reached 120 million pounds and attracted 320,000 visitors throughout the day. Both figures are the highest in the UK, making Southampton's Glory Square the most eye-catching consumer hotspot in the UK.

You should know that the second place is the McDull Shopping Center in Sheffield, with a total of only 200,000 people entering and leaving the mall throughout the day and total sales of less than 50 million pounds.

But Southampton's Glory Square not only surpassed its competitors in terms of number of people, but also had more than double the sales volume of its competitors.

PwC's analysis report pointed out that the outstanding performance of Glory Plaza was not sudden.

"In fact, according to the data we have obtained, the sales of Glory Plaza have been steadily increasing since the trial operation began in May. Especially when there are competitions, the sales are much higher than usual."

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

"Southampton Saints have pioneered a free ticket mechanism. There is only one way for all fans to get tickets, that is, by spending in the Glory Square and other Saints authorized stores, accumulating fan points, and then going to the club to redeem free tickets and season tickets."

"In recent years, Southampton's performance has been rapid. First, they have been promoted year by year. In their first season in the Premier League, they won the league championship as a newly promoted team. Last season, they successfully defended the Premier League title and won the first Champions League title in the club's history!"

"The outstanding results have greatly stimulated the fans. In addition, since we moved into the new stadium this season, the fans are very enthusiastic about watching the game. In order to get free tickets, they flocked to Glory Plaza to spend money, which greatly stimulated the sales of Glory Plaza."

"On Boxing Day, the Saints played against Chelsea at the Glory Square, which attracted a lot of attention from the fans. After the game, the six-goal victory further stimulated the fans, causing the original sales forecast of around £100 million to be broken by the enthusiastic consumption frenzy and finally locked in at £120 million."

"It is worth mentioning that according to the data we have obtained, on Boxing Day in the UK, the average per capita consumption was about 200 pounds, but in Glory Square in Southampton, the average per capita consumption was as high as 380 pounds, almost twice the UK average."

"The reason for such a staggering gap is that, after analysis, we found that 10% of the consumers at Glory Plaza are overseas tourists, most of whom are from China, the Middle East and North Africa, and the average spending level of tourists from China is as high as £1,000."

"We have heard from some multinational travel agencies that Southampton has gradually become the first choice for Chinese tourists to spend money 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 top underwater hotel. Moreover, everything here seems to be tailor-made for them. Shopping here makes them feel comfortable and assured."

"Not only that, in order to attract Chinese tourists, Glory Plaza has also offered super low discounts. All luxury goods in Harrods are discounted by less than 50%, which is quite a bargain. In addition, the pound exchange rate has fallen, making Chinese tourists very willing to take advantage of Boxing Day to come to the UK to buy bargains."

"In our interview, the person in charge of Glory Plaza said that they had planned the entire shopping carnival for half a year, from Christmas, Boxing Day to New Year's Day. It is expected that on the 28th, when the Saints play against Arsenal at home, and around New Year's Day, there will be a consumption boom."

After PwC's analysis report came out, the port city of Southampton and Glory Square immediately became famous in Europe and became very popular.

And the facts have proved that the estimates of the management of Glory Plaza were not wrong.

The sales frenzy on Boxing Day was more like an advance carnival. After the carnival, various consumer indexes in the UK fell one after another, and major shopping malls were almost unable to sell anything.

But in this situation, Southampton's Glory Square still stands out and becomes a major exception.

On the day after Boxing Day, although the sales of Glory Square also dropped sharply, it still remained at around 30 million pounds, which is a very good sales figure in the UK.

But on the third day, the 28th, sales rose again, approaching 70 million pounds, bucking the market trend.

This surprised the entire British business community and media.

Even on the 29th, 30th and 31st, the sales of Glory Square remained around 40 million pounds.

In the three days from New Year's Day to January 3rd, it rose again to 60 million pounds.

It wasn't like that anymore after that, it kept going downhill and returned to its usual level.

But even so, during the entire Saints Shopping Carnival, which lasted ten days, Glory Square generated sales of 550 million pounds.

This is quite an amazing report card!

Not only the UK, but the whole of Europe was shocked.

After in-depth analysis by professionals, all the talents were surprised to find that a large proportion of the sales boom at Southampton Glory Square were supported by tourists from abroad, especially those from China and the Middle East.

"According to the data from Glory Plaza, the average spending of tourists from China is as high as 1,500 pounds. Although the number is small, they account for 25% of the spending of all foreign tourists, far exceeding Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, making them the most generous guests of the Saints Shopping Carnival."

"Tourists from China and the Middle East account for a large proportion of Glory Plaza's sales. In addition, in the past six months, Glory Plaza has stepped up its publicity efforts in China and the Middle East, which has contributed to the craziness and popularity of the Saints Shopping Carnival."

Not only that, the media also dug deeper to find out that the organizers of Glory Plaza are launching an initiative with the British Hotel Association, retail 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, which at least causes the UK to lose more than one billion pounds every year."

"With the madness of Boxing Day at Southampton's Glory Square, Chinese tourists showed the world their amazing spending power."

"It is reported that at the Milan Expo next year, Italy will open a special Expo channel for Chinese tourists, and European countries such as France and Finland will also launch considerate services for Chinese tourists. Germany will also seriously consider streamlining the visa issuance process."

"In this context, British Home Secretary Theresa May also said in an interview that the government is also seriously considering launching a series of new plans to attract Chinese tourists in the near future, including a visa system."

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

Chinese tycoons buy things all over the world, forcing the high-handed European governments to introduce preferential systems with Chinese characteristics, which makes the domestic people very excited.

In the reports of many domestic media, Southampton's Glory Square and Yang Huan behind it have attracted attention amidst the public jubilation.

As a result, Southampton has even become another popular tourist destination for Chinese people traveling to the UK and Europe.

…

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

After Southampton defeated Chelsea 6-0, they beat the visiting Gunners Arsenal 2-0 on the 28th, and then beat Crystal Palace 3-1 away from home, winning three consecutive games in the devilish Christmas schedule and firmly defending their position as the league leader.

Later in the League Cup and FA Cup matches, although the Saints sent out all their main players, they still defeated their opponents without any danger.

After the main players had sufficient rest, Southampton won a narrow 1-0 victory over Manchester United away from home.

After that, they won 2-1 against Newcastle away, drew 1-1 with Swansea, were tied 0-0 by Queens Park Rangers, won 3-0 against West Ham United, defeated Liverpool 2-0, and narrowly beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0.

In January and February, the Saints' performance in the Premier League was outstanding.

After the February schedule is completed, there is not much suspense that Southampton will once again defend the Premier League title.

This also shocked the British media.

However, after in-depth analysis, it is not difficult to find that the Saints' strength comes from their own strength on the one hand, but a very important reason is the decline of the traditional four powers: Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

The newly rising Manchester City has a lot of problems. The team's lineup seems strong, but in fact it lacks competitiveness. Tottenham Hotspur will not be able to compete with Southampton in the short term.

Therefore, after five years of painstaking efforts by Bielsa and large investments by Yang Huan, the strength of the Saints has been steadily improving. Recently, there is a tendency for them to dominate the Premier League and establish the Saints dynasty.

This is also quite obvious in the Champions League.

In the round of 16, the Saints first drew 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain away from home, and then defeated the French Ligue 1 giants 2-0 at home, and finally advanced to the quarterfinals with a total score of 3-1.

However, Manchester City, which emerged from the group stage, suffered a double defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the group stage, and Arsenal was defeated 1-3 at home and 2-0 away from home when facing Monaco, and was eliminated miserably with a total score of 5-1.

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

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

Southampton has become a lone wolf in the Premier League's Europa League campaign.

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