The company achieved a 9.2% increase in fourth-quarter revenues, reaching RMB34.7 billion (US$4.9 billion), and a 9.4% rise for the full year, amounting to RMB112.9 billion (US$15.9 billion).

This performance underscores Vipshop’s successful navigation through the retail landscape, leveraging its strategic focus on brand discounts to attract value-conscious consumers.

Significant growth was also seen in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), with a 21.9% increase in the fourth quarter to RMB66.4 billion and an 18.7% rise for the year, reaching RMB208.0 billion.

The company’s gross profit followed suit, climbing by 19.3% in the last quarter to RMB8.2 billion (US$1.2 billion) and by 19.0% annually to RMB25.7 billion (US$3.6 billion).

Furthermore, net income attributable to shareholders soared by 32.2% quarterly and 28.9% annually, to RMB3.0 billion (US$415.8 million) and RMB8.1 billion (US$1.1 billion), respectively.

Active customer numbers and total orders also saw upward trends, with the former increasing by 3.9% year-over-year to 87.4 million and the latter by 9.8% to 812.3 million.

These figures highlight Vipshop’s growing market penetration and consumer trust.

Eric Shen, Chairman and CEO, attributed the success to the company’s adept execution of its merchandising strategy and focus on apparel, which resulted in crossing the RMB200 billion mark in annual GMV for the first time.

Mark Wang, CFO, echoed this sentiment, noting 2023 as Vipshop’s most profitable year, driven by efficiency improvements and operational discipline.

Looking forward, Vipshop anticipates first-quarter revenues for 2024 to be between RMB27.5 billion and RMB28.9 billion, indicating a cautious yet optimistic outlook amid dynamic market conditions.

Top mobile shopping platforms in China: Taobao, Pinduoduo, JD

In China, the online retail B2C e-commerce grew by 28.4% to a US$226.38bn market in Q4 2018. Tmall took the lead, followed by JD, Suning, Vipshop, and Gome.

China’s online retail B2C e-commerce market reached 1,526.76 billion yuan (US$226.38bn) in Q4 2018, an increase of 28.4% year-on-year.

Revenue from Alibaba’s core commerce grew by 40% year-over-year to 102,843 million yuan (US$14,958 million) as of Q4 2018. Its annual active consumers on the China retail marketplaces reached 636 million.

Related: China e-commerce market overview

Tmall took a market share of 61.5%, with a GMV increase of 29.5% year-on-year. JD ranked in the second place with a share of 24.2%, whose GMV grew by 21.1% year-on-year. Suning, Vipshop, and Gome listed third, fourth, and fifth with a share of 6.7%, 3.7%, and 0.7%, respectively.

71 brands exceeded 100 million yuan (US$14.37 million) in GMV in the pre-sale period of Double 11. Among that, 15 brands came from Tmall apparel, i.e. Nike, Adidas, Puma, Lining, Converse, Anta, Fila, Skechers, New Balance, Underarmour, Uniqlo, Eifini, Only, Vero Moda, and Bosideng. The same figure was only 40 in last year’s Double 11. You can find out the top statistics of Double 11 2018 here.

In 2018, the online retail sales of goods and services totaled 9,006.5 billion yuan (US$1,328.59 billion), up by 23.9% year-on-year. China’s retail market is estimated to hit US$6.77 trillion by 2019 with e-commerce representing 14.46% of this market.

Individual agents (Daigou), who frequently promote products on WeChat Moment or sell products in live streaming and short videos, are facing a new e-commerce policy on the first day of 2019. Under this new regulation, they need to make market entity registration and perform the obligation of tax payment.

In order to meet the ever-changing consumer preferences, companies should adjust their products and marketing based on people’s shopping motives, methods, time and results. Read more on Chinese digital consumer trends here.

China’s US$16bn cross-border e-commerce market overview in Q4 2018

The Double 11 rising on the popularity of China Singles’ Day (Nov 11) is growing bigger every year. Top e-commerce players all saw record-breaking sales on this very day. Sales on Tmall reached 10 billion yuan in 00:02:05, sales on NetEase Kaola exceeded 100 million yuan in 00:03:49, and GMV on Suning exceeded 100 million yuan and 1 billion yuan in 4 seconds and 50 seconds, respectively.

Orders on Vipshop hit 2 million in one hour. GMV on JD exceeded 100 billion yuan in 10 days during this shopping festival. Xiaomi new retail saw GMV reaching 100 million yuan in 36 seconds.

Tmall

This year, Tmall took 00:02:05 to hit 10 billion yuan, 01:47:26 to reach 100 billion yuan, and 10:28:30 to exceed US$20 billion. GMV totaled 213.5 billion yuan (US$30.7 billion) by the end of Double 11.

Tmall logistics orders exceeded 1 billion as of 23:18:00 on Double 11.

The first cup of Starbuck Coffee was delivered by Ele.me “Starbuck Deliver” to a Shanghai consumer in the first 9 minutes 2 seconds on Double 11. Starbuck takeaway has covered 17 cities with over 1400 stores at the very day of Double 11.

The first Tmall Supermarket parcel- a piece of spring water- was delivered to a Qingdao consumer in eight seconds. A consumer living at Putuo District, Shanghai, received a cocktail cabinet from Cainiao-cooperated RRS Logistics 12 minutes after Double 11 begins.

Top 50 Tmall Stores by GMV on Double 11

Jingdong (JD.com)

Total orders from 00:00:00 1 Nov till 22:56:00 10 Nov exceeded 100 billion yuan on Jingdong (JD), which reached 159.8 billion yuan as of  24:00:00 11 Nov, an increase of 25.7% year-on-year.

Smartphone, TV, Huawei, wash machine, and Nike were the most searched keywords. Notably, the sales of TV and air conditioner hit 100 million yuan in 36 seconds and 40 seconds, respectively. The sales of refrigerator and wash machine exceeded 300 million in 3 minutes.

The sales value of laptops in the first 10 minutes reached 2 times as much as last year’s. The sales volume of the translator, student tablet, and keyboard and mouse reached 36 times, 4 times, and 4 times as much as last year’s, respectively.

The total GMV of JD.com for the 11 days ending on 11 Nov reached record 159.8 billion yuan.

NetEase Kaola

Netease Kaola saw sales hit 100 million in the first 3 minutes and 49 seconds and exceeded the entire sales of last year’s in 78 minutes on Double 11. Total GMV reached 4.3 billion yuan, a 140% increase year-on-year.

A consumer living at Jinhua, Zhejiang received an imported paper diaper from NetEase Kaola in the first 26 minutes.

Suning.com

GMV of Suning.com on Double 11 exceeded 100 million yuan and 1 billion yuan in the first 4 seconds and 50 seconds, respectively. Its one-hour sales increased by 153% year-on-year. The sales of air conditioner hit 100 million yuan in just 35 seconds. As of 18:00:00, its online orders grew by 132% year-on-year and offline orders increased by 96% year-on-year. Total GMV was 14.8 billion yuan, an increase of 44.8% year-on-year.

Total orders on Suning Supermarket increased by 500% in the first hour. Among that, fresh food increased by 800%. The top 5 cities contributing most GMV on Suning were Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, and Shenzhen.

Driven by free logistics and shopping coupons, Suning.com saw orders of products  (ships from and sold by Suning.com) less than 86 yuan increased by 6 times from 1 Nov till 1:00:00 11 Nov. Its first delivery on Double 11 was sent to Haikou in 9 minutes 48 seconds.

Sales on Suning Supermarket and Readbaby increased by 546% and 151% year-on-year, respectively.

Vipshop

Double 11 started from 20:00 10 Nov on Vipshop. Orders exceeded 2 million in the first hour. The first package was delivered in 12 minutes 25 seconds after 11.11 begins. Orders exceeded 8 million in 12 hours 11 Nov, 30% of which was placed by post-90s. Especially, 97% of orders were placed via mobile devices.

Post-90s accounted for 40% of Vipshop’s customers as of Q1 2018. Moreover, nearly 50% of its newly added customers were post-90s, whose favorite products were the facial mask, skin care products, and women’s boots.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi new retail omnichannel saw sales exceeded 100 million and 5 million in the first 36 seconds and 13 minutes and 37 seconds, respectively. The sales on its Xiaomi flagship on Tmall hit 100 million and 5 million in 56 seconds and 33 minutes and 8 seconds, respectively.

Its first order – Mi TV 4S 65 Pro – was placed in the first 19 seconds on Double 11 in the Mi experience store that locates at Golmud, Qinghai with an attitude of 278.0 meters. Its over 5,000 offline stores shared the same discounts as online on Double 11. The sales of Mi Notebook hit 3 billion yuan as of 12:00 on Double 11.

Double 11 Sales of Luxury Goods

The luxury apparel and cosmetics brands, high-end products, and imported products were all booming on Double 11.

LA MER’s 17,200 yuan-priced global limited edition was sold out in the first hour on Double 11, 10 times as much as the total of previous 10 months. 300 thousand bottles of Lancome Tonique Confort was sold in the first 8 hours.

The Italian brand VERSACE that just participated in Tmall Double 11 for the first time saw booking 20 times as much as one day sale in the first three days of pre-sell. 2.83 million Canadian sweep shrimps, 1.37 million Australian steaks, and 140 thousand Mexican avocadi were sold within one hour.

Top 5 countries selling to China on Double 11 were Japan, the U.S., South Korea, Australia, and Germany.

Top 5 popular imported brands among Chinese consumers on Double 11 were Swisse, KAO, Moony, Aptamll, and Dr.Ci.Labo.

More and more paying for hobbies

At the time when sales of brand new smartphones like iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR exceeded 100 million in 30 minutes, DJI Osmo Mobile 2 UAV, GoPro HERO7 Black, and ThundeRobot 911 ME Game Notebook were sold out. 5 thousand Xingxing Lenglian household freezer were sold in 20 minutes.

Seeing from JD’s performance, sales volume of UAV and noise-cancellation headphone, smart pet products, and health and workout kind of dietary supplement increased by over 400%, 600%, and 225% year-on-year, respectively.

As for Suning, sales volume of Smith water heater exceeded 1.5 thousand. Sales volume of electric warmer increased by 321% year-on-year.

Integration of online and offline in new retail is necessary

The first cup of Starbuck coffee was sent by Ele.me “Starbuck Deliver” to a Shanghai consumer in the first 9 minutes and 2 seconds on Double 11.

Tmall had cooperated with 100 new retail business districts, 200 thousand smart stores, 62 Intime Department Stores, 41 Easyhome stores, 100 Hema Supermarkets, 470 new retail supermarkets, and 1 million Ele.me and Koubei businesses to promote Double 11 offline.

Transactions on Xiaomi new retail omnichannel exceeded 4 billion yuan as of 18:00 on Double 11, more than last year’s 2.46 billion yuan on its Tmall flagship shop.

China online retail market totaled 1,974.59 billion yuan (US$311.69 billion) with an increase of 41% YoY in Q4 2017 according to data from Analysis. China’s B2C online retail market reached 1,189.35 billion yuan (US$187.74 billion) with an increase of 43.2%.

Total transactions on Tmall grew by 45% in Q4 2017, accounting for 60.9% of the total B2C market in China. JD grew by 35% to 25.6% market share, followed by Suning and Vipshop.

China’s FMCG spending grew by 4.3% in 2017

China’s B2C apparel market reached 307.74 billion yuan (US$46.37 bn) in Q2 2017 with an increase of 47.3%.

Tmall has 80.7% market share in China’s B2C online clothing market in Q2 2017, followed by JD (8.7%) and Vipshop.

The online retail market in China reached 1.59 trillion yuan (US$244.6 billion) in the second quarter of 2017 (up 31.2% over Q2 2016), with B2C sales accounting for 860.5 billion yuan (US$132.4 billion), an increase of 32% over the second quarter of 2016. Read more »

Also read: China cross-border e-commerce market 2017

The online retail market in China reached 1.59 trillion yuan (US$244.6 billion) in the second quarter of 2017 (up 31.2% over Q2 2016), with B2C sales accounting for 860.5 billion yuan (US$132.4 billion), an increase of 32% over the second quarter of 2016.

The second quarter is the traditional peak of the online sales season in China, with JD.com’s 6.18 (June 18th, a major promotional activity for online sales) having caught on and developed into a summertime companion to 11.11 (the winter sales peak, comparable to the US’s Cyber Monday).

This year, retailers unveiled major promotional initiatives including advertising, discounts, and interactive and live activities. At the end of Q2, data showed that Tmall had captured 51.3% of the online B2C retail market, with JD.com as its primary competitor with 32.9%.

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Tmall was able to leverage big data to better meet consumer demand and envisage different demand scenarios, improve its shopping guides, and broaden its distribution channels. JD.com reached a total turnover of 119.9 billion yuan (US$184.5 billion) during its 6.18 promotion, breaking its prior record; it also introduced a series of offline promotional activities called “6.18 Offline”.

Vipshop harnessed a drive for quality among consumers as a new growth engine, with the slogan “Global selection, genuine articles”, while splitting off its finance business and restructuring its logistics business.

A new round of competition in online retail is in the offing, even as major players continue to experiment with foreign brand offerings, improving logistics, and expanding into cross-border e-commerce.

China’s online retail market totaled US$198.12 billion in the first quarter of 2017 with an increase of 27.6% YoY according to data from Analysis; B2C segment accounts for over 53%, led by Tmall (55.8%). Mobile continued its strong growth of 38.8% in China’s online shopping market, dominated by Tmall and Taobao (80.5%).

The total retail sales of consumer goods in China reached 8,582.3 billion yuan (US$1,245.89 bn) in Q1 2017 according to National Bureau of Statistics. Online retail market totaled 1,349.31 billion yuan (US$198.12 billion) with an increase of 27.6% YoY.

B2C Online Retail Market in Q1 2017

China’s online retail B2C market total transactions reached 720.94 billion yuan (US$105.86 bn) with an increase of 31.5% in Q1 2017, accounting for 53.4% of China’s online retail market.

Tmall remains its dominant position in China’s online retail B2C market with 55.8% market share in Q1 2017 by total transactions, followed by JD (26.7%) and Vipshop (3.4%).

Mobile Shopping Market in Q1 2017

The total transactions of China mobile shopping market reached 1,037.62 billion yuan (US$152.36 billion) with an increase of 38.8% YoY. The growth of mobile shopping in China is slowing down but the quarterly growth YoY is still over 30%.

Mobile accounts for 76.9% of total online shopping transactions in Q1 2017.

Tmall (including Taobao transactions) captured 80.5% of China’s mobile shopping market in Q1 2017, followed by JD (13.5%) and Vipshop (2%). Mobile GMV transacted on Alibaba China retail marketplaces was 2,981 billion yuan (US$433 billion), or 79% of total in Alibaba’s fiscal year 2017, an increase of 49% year-over-year.

In the first four months of 2017, the online retail sales of goods and services in China totaled 1,918.0 billion yuan (US$279.26 bn), an increase of 32.0% YoY.

The total transactions of China’s online shopping market totaled 4.7 trillion yuan (US$680 bn) in 2016 with an increase of 23.9%; and, it’s estimated to reach 7.3 trillion yuan (US$1.06 trillion)  in 2019. Tmall dominates China’s B2C online shopping market with over 56% market share.

B2C online shopping market will grow to over 60% in 2019 from 55.3% in 2016 while C2C continues to shrink.

Mobile shopping begins to dominate China’s online shopping market and will grow to 5.6 trillion yuan; 76.9% of total online shopping transactions in 2019.

Tmall continued to lead China’s B2C online shopping market with 56.6% market share, followed by Jingdong (24.7%) and Suning (4.3%).

Mobile MAUs on Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces reached 493 million in December 2016 while annual active buyers on its China retail marketplaces reached 443 million, an increase of 4 million. It has 82.6% market share in China’s mobile shopping market according to iResearch.

Jingdong annual active customer accounts increased by 46% to 226.6 million in 2016 from 155.0 million in 2015. Net revenues for 2016 were RMB260.2 billion (US$37.5 billion), an increase of 44% from 2015.

Also read: China’s cross-border online shoppers to exceed 200 million by 2020

The total transactions of China cross-border e-commerce market reached 6.3 trillion yuan (US$920 billion) in 2016, including retail and B2B according to a Chinese research company iiMedia. And, it’s expected to reach 8.8 trillion yuan (US$1.28 trillion) in 2018.

The total number of cross-border shoppers in China exceeded 410 million in 2016 and is expected to reach 740 million in 2018. The growth was 78.3% in 2016 and will slow down to 27.6% in 2018.

The total transactions of China cross-border e-commerce market reached 6.3 trillion yuan (US$920 billion) in 2016 from 5.1 trillion yuan in 2015, including retail and B2B. It’s estimated to reach 7.5 trillion yuan in 2017 and 8.8 trillion yuan in 2018.

In China cross-border retail e-commerce import market, Kaola.com (Netease) led in 2016 with 21.6% market share by total sales value, followed by Tmall (18.5%), Vipshop (16.3%), JD Worldwide (15.2%), Jumei (12.4%), and Xiaohongshu (6.5%).

73.6% cross-border online shoppers in China are female; 30.9% have monthly income of between 5,001 and 8,000 yuan; 84% are between 19 and 40 years-old; 45.2% live in the east (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, etc). Tier-1 and tier-2 cities accounted for 77.4% all cross-border online shoppers in 2016.

46.2% chose mobile as primary devices for cross-border online shopping. 48.2% installed 2 to 3 cross-border online shopping apps.

Near one third (31.4%) of users open cross-border shopping apps 2-3 times per week; 58.5% spend 11 to 30 minutes every time.

27.3% users on average shop cross-border products once a month; 58.5% at least once a month.

42% spend between 301 and 500 yuan per order.

The top product category for cross-border online shopping is skincare and makeup (43.2%), followed by baby products (41.5%) and apparel & shoes (36.1%). Only 20.4% bought cross-border health care products online; but, 37.2% expressed intention to buy in this product category in the future.

Deloitte’s annual Global Powers of Retailing report identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world. JD.com ranks on top of all Chinese companies in the Top 250 retailers list.

14 Chinese companies including China and Hong Kong who made it to the top 250 list include:

• JD.com, 36
• Suning Commerce Group Co., Ltd., 46
• A.S. Watson Group, 51
• China Resources Vanguard Co., Ltd., 54
• Gome Home Appliance Group, 69
• Dairy Farm International Holdings Limited, 85
• Shanghai Bailian Group Co., Ltd., 121
• Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited, 128
• Belle International Holdings Limited, 145
• Yonghui Superstores Co., Ltd., 146
• Vipshop Holdings Limited, 157
• Chongqing Department Store Co., Ltd., 192
• Dashang Co., Ltd., 195
• Nonggongshang Supermarket (Group) Co. Ltd., 214

Retailers based in China and Hong Kong generated the strongest growth in the region with combined revenue up 12.9% in FY2015 although they posted a slight growth of 0.7% net profit margin.

Vipshop (1), JD.com (2), Yonghui Superstores (13), and Suning (48) are among the top 50 fastest-growing retailers for FY2010-2015. JD.com (2), Suning (5), Vipshop (8), Dangdang (47) were also in the top 50 e-retailers for FY2015.

In 2016, the national online retail sales of goods and services in China was 5,155.6 billion yuan, increased by 26.2% YoY.

Also read: What are consumers buying for Chinese New Year 2017?

The top e-commerce platforms in China are JD, Tmall, and YHD in 2016 according to Kantar Retail.

Top 10 e-commerce platforms in 2016 based on comments from more than 200 participants from FMCG manufacturers are:

1. JD
2. Tmall
3. YHD
4. vip.com
5. Amazon
6. Suning
7. Jumei
8. Xiaohongshu
9. sfbest.com
10. Feiniu

The top roles of of e-commerce according to Kantar survey:

1. Additional sales channel
2. Brand building
3. Stronger communication with consumer/shoppers
4. Penetrating lower-tier cities or markets
5. Additional profit
6. An efficient way to enter new brands / new products into the China market

Total transaction value of China online shopping market reached 1.15 trillion yuan (US$166.85 billion) in Q3 2016, up 23.6% YoY or 2.6% QoQ, according to data from iResearch.

B2C (600 billion yuan) accounted for 55.1% of China online shopping market in Q3 2016, led by Tmall (56.2%), Jingdong (25.1%), Suning (4.4%), and VIPshop (3.2%).

The total transactions of China mobile shopping market reached 820.15 billion yuan (US$), an increase of 56.1% YoY. Mobile accounted for 71.6% of China’s online shopping market, led by Tmall/Taobao with 82.7% market share.

China’s online shopping market transactions totaled RMB 1,117.8 billion (USD 167.51 billion) in the second quarter of 2016 with a growth rate of 27.6% YoY or 14.9% QoQ according to iResearch.

Online shopping represented 14.3% of China’s total consumer retail sales in Q2 2016. And, B2C accounted for 54.5% of total online shopping transactions, led by Tmall (54.5%) and JD (26.3%).

From January to June, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 15,613.8 billion yuan, up by 10.3 percent year-on-year. according to National Bureau of Statistics of China. The online retail sales of goods and services was 2,236.7 billion yuan, increased by 28.2% year-on-year.

Mobile online shopping market reached RMB 783.44 billion (USD 117.4 bn) in Q2 2016 in China, an increase of 75.9% YoY, accounting for 70.1% of total online shopping transactions.

Alibaba continued to dominate China’s mobile shopping market in Q2 2016 with over 80% market share.