The top five sectors with the highest growth rate in China remained unchanged in 2010-2019, including holidays (CAGR 18%), transportation (16.4%), over-the-counter drugs and pharmaceuticals (13.6%), catering services (13.1%), and personal finance and housing (12.9%).

Although the growth of most industries has gradually declined due to the slowdown of overall consumer spending growth, the beauty and personal care industry has maintained its growth trend since 2017, with an increase of 9.2% in 2019.

Spending fell in the first quarter as industries such as holidays and catering services require consumers to leave home and are likely to flock. Total consumer spending is expected to shrink by 5.6% by 2020.

Research shows that most consumer goods industries are gradually recovering, including dining out, clothing, beauty and personal care, as well as non-essential industries such as leisure and entertainment.

In the long run, China’s total consumer spending is expected to return to its pre-covid-19 level in 2021 and continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.3% from 2021 to 2024.

CIW annual subscribers can download the report here.

8 Strategic segments of China’s online consumers

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Double 11 online shopping festival. The first Double 11 in 2009 brought in US$7.8 million in gross merchandise value (GMV). Total GMV generated in 2017 was US$25.3 billion, which was more than twice the size of Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

If you are not familiar with Double 11, visit this page for resources or watch the video below for a quick overview:

This year, 180,000 brands from China and around the world participate. New this year, 200,000 smart stores in China across the apparel, fast-moving consumer goods, beauty products, automobile, and home décor industries help boost traffic to offline and online shopping destinations. Tmall Global provides 3,700 categories of imported goods from 75 countries and regions on its platform.

Offline for Double 11 2018, some 200,000 mom-and-pop stores powered by Alibaba’s Ling Shou Tong provides online sales promotions and augmented reality-based red packets that offer discounts at 3,000 “Tmall Corner Stores.” Rural Taobao will also bring coupons to its services in 800 counties across 29 provinces in China.

Hema, Alibaba’s New Retail supermarket chain, will designate 11.11 signature stores, each featuring a number of promotions. And RT-Mart will complete the makeover of its nearly 400 stores, fully equipping them with New Retail capabilities.

Related: Alibaba Taobao’s marketing strategy for Double 11 in 2018

This year, 500,000 items are available for pre-order on Alibaba’s B2C e-commerce platform Tmall from October 20. Customers can enjoy additional promotional coupons on Mobile Taobao and Mobile Tmall. Specifically, the 2018 Double 11 Global Shopping Festival will have the following features:

Brand Innovation
Tmall will continue to give brands access to new digital capabilities – 180,000 brands from China and around the world will participate in this year’s celebration. 200,000 smart stores in China across the apparel, fast-moving consumer goods, beauty products, automobile and home décor industries will help boost traffic to offline and online shopping destinations. Tmall Global provides 3,700 categories of imported goods from 75 countries and regions on its platform.

International Consumers
Tmall World, AliExpress and Lazada will bring the event to hundreds of millions of overseas users, making 11.11 a truly global event. Lazada will host its first 11.11 Shopping Festival across six countries in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, offering more engaged consumer experience and the biggest discounts of the year from LazMall and Lazada marketplace.

Participation of Local Services
Ele.me’s on-demand platform will provide delivery services for select Starbucks stores across 11 Chinese cities, including full-service coverage in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition, 150,000 merchant partners of Koubei will offer half-price discounts on catering, beauty and hair salons and karaoke bars.

New Opportunities for Small Merchants
200,000 mom-and-pop stores powered by Alibaba’s Ling Shou Tong (which translates as “retail-integrated”) will provide online sales promotions, along with augmented reality-based red packets that offer discounts at 3,000 “Tmall Corner Stores.” Rural Taobao will also bring coupons to its services in 800 counties across 29 provinces in China.

Dining and Supermarket
Hema supermarket will designate 11.11 signature stores featuring a number of promotions. RT-Mart will complete the makeover of its nearly 400 stores, fully equipping them with New Retail capabilities.

Star-studded Entertainment
Tmall Collection’s “See Now, Buy Now” Fashion Show will be broadcast live on ten platforms including Taobao, Youku, Weibo and Toutiao on October 20, starting at 6pm in China. This will provide millions of customers the opportunity to buy their favorite items on the spot and vote for their favorite looks to create a trend report. In addition, the signature countdown Gala will be held on November 10 in Shanghai’s Mercedes Benz Arena, featuring renowned stars.

Local Services, Entertainment on Display

Local services will be a focus of this year’s 11.11. Ele.me’s on-demand platform will provide delivery services for select Starbucks stores across 11 Chinese cities, including full-service coverage in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition, 150,000 Koubei merchant partners will offer half off on catering, beauty and hair salons and karaoke bars.

Entertainment is also going to be front-and-center for the festival. Tmall Collection’s “See Now, Buy Now” fashion show will be broadcast live on 10 platforms, including Taobao, Youku, Weibo and Toutiao on Oct. 20, starting at 6 p.m. in China. Millions of customers will have the chance to buy their favorite items on the spot and vote for their favorite looks to create a trend report. In addition, the signature countdown gala will be held on Nov. 10 in Shanghai’s Mercedes Benz Arena, featuring renowned stars.

In addition to the popular “See Now” and “Buy Now” features, this year’s fashion show also introduced a new interactive feature, “Play Now.”

Viewers had a chance to vote for their favorite outfits to create a trend report while watching the show. While watching online, the consumers were able to choose among four fashion styles and vote for the “next hot items,” providing insights and instant feedback to participating brands.

AliExpress, which sells Chinese goods to consumers overseas, and Tmall World, a site aimed at Chinese consumers living abroad, are taking on a bigger role in this year’s 11.11. In expectation of an increase in cross-border shipments, Cainiao has chartered 51 flights to Western Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia, as well as about 1,000 shipping containers set for buyers in Southeast Asia and other destinations by sea.

Alibaba Tmall Double 11 2018 Statistics

• 00:02:05 RMB 10 billion
• 00:04:20 19.1 bn yuan, reaching the entire sales on Double 11 2012
• 00:12:14 36.2 bn yuan, reaching the entire sales on Doulbe 11 2013
• 00:28:41 52 bn yuan
• 00:35:17 57.1 bn yuan, exceeding the entire sales of Double 11 in 2014 (01:00:49)
• 00:57:56 66.6 bn yuan
• 01:16:37 91.2 bn yuan, exceeding the entire sales on 11.11.2015. Singles’ Day 2017 took 07:22:54 to reach the same GMV
• 01:47:26 100 bn yuan, Doulbe 11 2017 took 09:00:04 to reach the same number
• 06:04:12 111.1 bn yuan, Double 11 2017 took 10:54:26 to reach the same number
• 08:08:52 120.7 bn yuan, exceeding the entire sales on Double 11 2016. Double 11 2017 took 13:09:49 to reach the same number
• 10:28:30 US$20 billion
• 12:08:40 150 billion yuan
• 15:49:39 168.2 billion yuan, the full day GMV in 2017
• Total: 213.5 billion yuan (US$30.7 billion)

Statistics: Alibaba Double GMV 2009-2018

Tmall Sales Highlights

• Total sales of cosmetics products exceeded last year’s total in 3 hours and 30 minutes
• Total sales of Tmall Supermarket and Tmall Global exceeded last year’s total in less than 8 hours respectively
• Total sales of pharmaceuticals exceeded last year’s total in less than 10 hours
• Total sales of automotive segment exceeded last year’s total in 10 hours
• Top 10 regions by sales as of 12pm: Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong, Sichuan, Henan, Hubei, Fujian

Find out the performance of other retail & e-commerce companies here.

Check out our latest eBook on Double 11

Music consumption behaviors across China vary by income levels and understanding the differences between different city tiers is critical to marketers according to the Nielsen Music 360 report.

72% of the general population in China listens to music for an average of 16 hours per week. The population with the highest average household incomes are the most engaged music listeners, spending more time and more money on music than the rest of the population according to Nielsen.

Tier 1 Chinese consumers, from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, are 15% more likely to be music listeners than the general population. They spend more time listening to music – 19 hours a week on average – and more of their discretionary income on music. They were also the most likely to listen to English language music, particularly jazz, pop and rock.

57% of tier 1 respondents attend live music events, compared with 51% of the U.S. general population. And, 71% of tier 1 listeners in China listen to an online streaming service in a typical week, in line with 75% of U.S. music listeners.

74% of China’s tier-2 consumers are music listeners and are on par with the national average for listening hours per week.

Tier 3 consumers spend the least amount of time listening to music and allocate the least amount of their total entertainment spending on music; they are nearly as likely to listen on a smartphone as more affluent consumers.

Nielsen suggests that involvement in music-based sponsorships could be a solid way to reach Chinese consumers. Not only are they highly engaged with music, but they are generally favorable when a brand is involved, with the highest net favorability going to promotions that offer free music downloads or sweepstakes.

Also read: 7 Habits of China Online Shoppers

Tencent released Tencent Entertainment Whitepaper several recently and highlighted entertainment activities of the post-90s. 211 million Chinese post-90s make up 15.4% of the total population in China according to National Bureau of Statistics in 2015. Realize preferences and behaviors of the post-90s will help media, companies and advertisers grab the commanding point.

Nearly 70.0% post-90s get entertainment information from WeChat Moments, Weibo and other social networks. 66.0% post-90s read entertainment information on news websites, among which the male account for the bulk. Only 28.2% will get messages from traditional media.

Male users are more active on news websites compared to the female users among the post-90s. Female post-90s are more likely to receive entertainment information on social networks.

The post-90s love listening to the music and watching movies as entertainment activities. Boys spend much time on games and girls love watching TV shows and variety shows. Girls account for more compared with boys in the celebrity worshipers.

The post-90s love watching movies best and are most willing to spend money on movies in all tier cities. Most female post-90s are willing to spend money on movies and most males are willing to spend money on games in 2015.

Post-90s are not as crazy at celebrity related products as the public suppose. Tier-2 and lower cities post-90s are relatively indulged in celebrities. The female celebrity related products buyers are twice as many as male buyers.

Female are more likely to watch concerts than the male. Post-90s in all cities are relatively willing to watch concerts especially in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas countries.

The post-90s can be influenced by recommendations from friends, families or online reviews on the consumption of entertainment activities besides price. The female are more concerned about prices for entertainment activities.

Nowadays, 56.7% post-90s keep rational attitude towards favorite celebrities and over half will support their works instead of buying related products or spreading good reviews everywhere of their favorable stars. Post-90s in tier-2 and lower cities are more willing to buy more tickets to increase movie revenues for celebrities.

Performers and attracting stories are the greatest motivation for the post-90s to watch movies. 32.9% will go to theaters for good publication designs and 29.6% for the original works. Only 10.6% will watch movies for their directors. And besides features of movies, recommendations from friends are one of the major factors for the post-90s to watch movies.

Due to ever-developing online shopping platforms and mobile apps, 66.2% post-90s buy movie tickets through the internet and 24.4% watch directly on online video platforms. Over 70% post-90s in tier-1 and tier-2 cities are used to buying movie tickets online.

The post-90s love power & scheme plays and spy & suspense plays. Most female prefer romance and ancient story dramas. A total of 28 movies are adapted from scripts which gain 8 billion yuan box office returns in 2015. However, even if their favorable scripts are adapted to movies or plays only 34.5% post-90s are sure to watch.

The ratio who will watch adapted movies among the male post-90s is higher than the female. Post-90s in tier-2 cities may be the future focus of movie propaganda.

China-made music is favored by most post-90s in China. The female prefer oversea music compared with the male. Songs appeared in variety shows especially in music shows draw over 90% post-90s’ attention and 34.7% listen to other songs of the same singers.

Over 90% post-90s are used to listening to the music through online music platforms and only 3.3% still use records to listen to the music. Most post-90s buy the records for collection and reserve.

Paid services are crucial for the development of online video websites and the post-90s may be the driving force of online paid services in the future. Over 38% post-90s have paid for online entertainment activities such as online music and 46.1% may purchase online entertainment services in the future.

The female are more positive on paid services than the male. Post-90s in tier-3 and lower cities are more willing to spend money on online paid services.

Online paid services increase rapidly in 2015 and the growth rate is faster than the growth rate of the advertising market in China. Paid services revenues are expected to keep up with advertising revenues in three or four years later according to the vice President of Tencent. As the major work force in the following decades, the consumption power of the post-90s is immense and it will be better for companies to know what they like and what they dislike.

Also read: China’s Mobile Internet Insights Q1-Q3 2015

The post-90 is a common term in China indicating people who are born in and after 1990; the total number is about 140 million, accounting for 11.7% of the total population. The post-90s would become the future backbone of China’s internet.

The post-90s monthly spend in total reached 24 billion yuan (US$3.77 billion) in online shopping, of which the majority were on Taobao.

The post-90s’ favorite interests are celebrities and entertainment, followed by science and technology, and social news.

The post-90s are the largest age group of many instant messaging apps, such as mobile QQ, Weibo, WeChat and so on. 39.4% of the post-90s use social apps to communicate with their friends; 28.9% use for leisure and entertainment, and 8.9% to keep in contact with their families.

Although about 48% of post-90s like to communicate with friends or families through instant messaging apps, 74.1% will accept strangers as friends. 25.9% post-90s wouldn’t accept any strangers.

The post-90s are more likely to accept new things. 63.7% of Chinese post-90s are willing to learn things they are interested in and 23.8% take initiatives to learn new things.

Different from other generations, in terms of the social background, family background, educational background and historical background, the post-90s have distinct characteristics. One of the most featured characteristics of the post-90s is that they put personal interests, career development and salary at almost the same level of importance when seeking jobs, different from the post-80s to whom the salary matters most.

Also read: China Top 100 Mobile Apps in July 2015

For 18 out of the 22 categories, China sees the highest percentage of respondents who are willing to buy online compared with the remaining 59 countries and regions covered in a survey conducted by Nielsen.

It also found out that China sees the highest intent for both online-shopping and online-purchase for categories including clothing, cosmetics, personal care, toys and alcohol drinks.

By one account, China has more than 600 million Internet users and an annual E-commerce growth rate of 120% – making it the fastest growing, and soon to be the largest, E-commerce market in the world,

says Patrick Dodd, Managing Director of Nielsen China.

The deep penetration of smartphones and internet, combined with the comprehensive build-up of shipping logistics infrastructure, are quickly transforming the shopping habits and mindsets of Chinese consumers on E-commerce.

Related: Top 4 Trending in Chinese E-Commerce Market

Strong Intention for Online Purchase in China

More than half of Chinese respondents intend to make an online purchase within the next six months In 13 out of 22 different product categories surveyed by Nielsen. These categories are primarily durable and entertainment-related categories like clothing (74% vs. 64% in 2011), airline tickets (69% vs. 47% in 2011) and hardcopy books (64% vs. 50% in 2011).

Online purchase intention for categories like E-books (51% vs. 26% in 2011), computer software (38% vs. 11% in 2011), toys/dolls (54% vs. 21% in 2011), doubled or even tripled over the past three years.

Chinese online purchase intentions for baby supplies jumped 25 percentage points to 38% since 2011, and both cosmetic and food & beverage categories increased 14 percentage points  to 56% and 57% respectively, and alcoholic drinks rose to 34%.

Strong Growth for Online Sales in China Top-tier Cities

The top-tier cities are seeing stronger growth for online sales in China.

Online sales in food category grew by 37% during period from Nov 2013 to May 2014 compared with the same period in 2013. In contrast, offline channels achieved sales value of about RMB 60 billion (US$9.78 billion) while online sales was RMB 2.5 billion (US$410 million) by May 2014 in tier one cities.

Related: Top Shopping Keywords on Taobao in 2013

Online Buying Rates Exceed Browsing Rates

Chinese consumers are enthusiastic about both browsing and buying online. Electronics, mobile phones and sporting goods are examples of categories that Chinese consumers often purchase online, while many other consumers around the globe prefer to buy offline.

For more than half of the 22 categories surveyed by Nielsen, online buying rates among Chinese respondents well exceed browsing rates, especially in the categories like clothing (57% browse online vs. 74% buy online), airline tickets (48% browse online vs. 69% buy online), hardcopy books (45% browse online vs. 64% buy online) and even cosmetics (45% browse online vs. 56% buy online).

According to Nielsen, the category that sees the largest surplus of online browsing versus online purchasing is car, motorcycle and accessories. 30% of respondents said they would love to shop online, while only 24% plan to purchase online in the following six months.

Chinese Online Shoppers Spent Much Time Researching Products

Chinese online shoppers like to spend a considerable amount of time researching products before buying (72%), while 86% of online shoppers prefer  to read online reviews prior to purchase.

In a separate report by Nielsen on the online-shopping behaviors of Chinese consumers, social media (36%) is one of the Top 3 online information channels used by consumers to help make purchase decisions. Search engines (52%) and category specific websites (42%) were also within the Top 3.

Search engines, category specific websites, and social media are the top 3 channels to help Chinese consumers make purchase decisions according to a separate survey by Nielsen.

In order to increase digital engagement with Chinese online shoppers, retailers need to deliver on multiple shopper needs such as low price, wide selection, and high quality products. Moreover, consumers want to shop on easy-to-navigate websites that offer a number of unique products with plenty of images, accurate descriptions and a history of good e-reputation on social media. These points are a must for brands that hope to convert more Chinese online browsers in to online buyers.

Recommended by Nielsen.

Total transactions of China’s online shopping market, a combination of B2C and C2C markets, reached RMB6,28.76 billion (US$101.58 billion), 10.1% of total retail transactions in China, according to iResearch data.

Also read: Chinese Cross-border Online Shoppers Insights

China online social services on mobile reached total number of 190 million unique visitors in May 2014, according to iResearch, an increase of 32% compared with last May.

In contract, social services on PC had a YoY growth of 6.3% to 470 million unique visitors.

Social apps are the fourth most popular app category in China, after instant messaging, music & video entertainment, and games. (Tweet this).

Ericsson Consumer Lab published Chinese city telecom 2013 report, according to which China mobile broadband had become daily life necessity, more than 70% Chinese smartphone users surfed mobile internet in public transportation. App based mobile broadband services would cover every aspects of city life, improving city life satisfactory.

Besides, Chinese consumers had less experience of mobile broadband service than phone call. While the mobile broadband service user experience laid a huge impact on total user satisfactory degree, unsatisfied consumers possible drop-out rate was five times higher than satisfied consumers.

Consumers’ need for mobile broadband had been increasing, 60% said mobile could offer information they needed instantly; 51% consumers admitted that mobile could offer entertainments and they would feel bored without mobile; besides, 53% consumers regarded being reached at any time anywhere as very important.

Internet access was not limited to home and office anymore. More than half consumers gained internet access outdoor, smartphone users could use data plan at any occasion. Data showed that average daily time spent on transportation in big cities was 1.5 hours, smartphone played a crucial role in filling this period. 70% users would browse webpages on mobile, and social networks. And two thirds of smartphone users would communicate with family and friends on mobile.

In the chart above, it showed the global average and Chinese Wi-Fi and mobile broadband household penetration rate. Chinese mobile broadband household penetration rate increased 64% in two years, from 14% in 2011 to 23% in 2013. And Chinese Wi-Fi household penetration rate increased 600% within two years.

Consumers attitudes toward data plan changed over time, 18% Chinese consumers thought data plan could replace phone call and SMS. Among smartphone users, the percentage reached almost 30%. In the past year, 80% consumers used IM service everyday, more than one thirds of consumers reduced SMS usage.

The survey of Chinese mobile broadband satisfactory showed that price to be the biggest barrier, 69% smartphone users said that data plan price was still expensive. Call quality satisfactory degree surpassed mobile broadband speed, and customized service was the third most concerned aspect.

Tuhao has been a hot word all over the media, it represents rich Chinese who love to show off their wealth on internet while claiming to be poor.

According to an article from Sydney Morning Herald, China’s vulgar rich: befriended but unloved, a crowdsourced translation call on China’s social media yielded “new money,” “slumdog millionaire,” the “riChinese” and “billionbilly.” When English falls short, French is on hand to help: Tuhao have the artistic sensibilities of the arriviste, the social grace of the parvenu, and the spending habits of the nouveau riche.

Tuhao is referred over 56 million times on Sina Weibo, everybody wants to be friends with tuhao, but nobody really likes them. They have caused attention of many foreign media, BBC made a special program about Chinese tuhao.

The popularity of tuhao began early in September, Sina Weibo started an acitivity “Let’s be friends with tuhao”. It’s similar to diaosi, which is a kind of insult of poor and unattractive young man who are struggling for life in cities in the beginning. Then it raged all over online, all of sudden, many young people self-deprecated themselves as diaosi. Diaosi, or “be friends with tuhao”, separate common people with rich class in China.

The most famous Chinese tuhao is a woman from Anhu province in early October 2013. Chinese media reported an anonymous woman gave 4 million yuan (USD 652,193) worth Bentley to her son-in-law as wedding gift. Whether the story is true or not, we could not know. But it was a sensation across internet, arousing mixed feelings with mock, envy, jealousy and hatred. Another father in Liaoning province, bought a kindergarten for his 4-year-old daughter to offer her a nice education environment. He said it was a nice kindergarten in many aspects after he searched for a long time and quite cheap, it merely cost him 10 million yuan (USD 16.03 million).

On September 20, 2013, Apple launched a new golden iPhone 5S, it was quite popular and soon sold out in China. The official price for golden iPhone 5s is 5,288 yuan (USD 862), in China, golden iPhone 5S price is above 8,800 yuan (USD 1,435).

On September 22, 2013, Chinese richest man Wang Jianlin celebrated his new Chinese Hollywood in Qingdao with top Hollywood stars, such as Nicole Kidman and Leonardo DiCaprio. Wang Jianlin, founder of Dalian Wanda Group, invested 30 billion yuan (USD 4.89 billion) in Qingdao film and entertainment industry park.

A research done by A.T.Kearney in October 2013 showed that 2% Chinese consumed one third of global luxury brands.

Tuhao is just another online word for Chinese rich people, especially for those who became rich quickly. Common people have different attitudes towards tuhao, they laughed at them, mocking their tastes, at the same time, they want to be friends with tuhao. The gap between the rich and poor has deepened, a part of Chinese became rich during the early stage of China reform and opening-up policy. Rich people live a luxury life while most of Chinese young people are struggling for life, they could only make their life less miserable by calling the rich tuhao.

2013 Forbes’ China Rich List collected 168 billionaires, much more than last year’s 113 billionaires. The total wealth of top 400 Chinese rich people mounted to 3.475 trillion yuan (USD 567 billion).

• PC: Time spent on video watching, instant massaging and game playing occupies the majority of the online users’ time
• Smart phone: Instant messaging tools are used by almost all the smart phone users
• iPad: iPad has already become a perfect choice for entertainment such as watching videos and playing games.