China Internet Watch https://www.chinainternetwatch.com China Internet Stats, Trends, Insights Sat, 06 Jul 2024 05:27:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-ciw-logo-2019-v1b-80x80.png China Internet Watch https://www.chinainternetwatch.com 32 32 Chinese Companies Making Waves in the Middle East E-Commerce Market https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/47196/chinese-companies-making-waves-in-the-middle-east-e-commerce-market/ Tue, 09 Jul 2024 05:20:41 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=47196

The Middle East has emerged as a new frontier for e-commerce, drawing significant attention from Chinese companies eager to expand their global presence. With a young, tech-savvy population and high spending power, the region offers a promising market for Chinese e-commerce giants.

Exploring New Opportunities in the Middle East

Xu Jin, a talent scout for a Chinese MCN (multi-channel network) company, has been actively seeking potential influencers in Dubai's bustling commercial areas. His job is to find promising individuals who can become TikTok influencers and drive e-commerce sales. Xu and his team have managed to generate $100,000 in monthly revenue by tapping into the Middle Eastern market according to TMT Post.

"The Middle East is an emerging market with great potential. There's plenty of traffic and money, but it lacks influencers who speak Arabic and can engage with the audience," says Xu Jin. His company is one of many Chinese enterprises recognizing the opportun...

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China’s Top 50 Global Brands for 2024 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/30833/brandz-top-brands/ Tue, 02 Jul 2024 12:20:59 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=30833 The latest report from Kantar BrandZ, “2024 China’s Top 50 Global Brands,” highlights the dynamic growth and global reach of Chinese brands. The study, which has been conducted annually, provides valuable insights into the leading Chinese brands that have made significant impacts in international markets.

Top Performers

ByteDance, Xiaomi, and SHEIN lead the list, showcasing the strength of Chinese brands in the entertainment, electronics, and fashion sectors.

Lenovo, Huawei, and AliExpress also remain strong contenders, emphasizing the diversity and innovation in China’s tech and e-commerce industries.

Sector Growth

Smart devices, automobiles, and e-commerce experienced the fastest brand power growth, with China’s industrial ecosystem and technological innovations providing a competitive edge.

Consumer electronics, entertainment apps, and online fashion account for a substantial portion of the brand power growth.

Brand Expansion

Chinese brands have successfully penetrated international markets, with notable growth in regions like Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.

Brands like BYD and NIO in the automotive sector, and OPPO and Vivo in consumer electronics, have expanded their global footprints, contributing to the increasing brand power.

Market Trends

The report highlights a shift in consumer preferences towards brands that offer meaningful differentiation and high engagement. Brands that have successfully created unique and compelling brand experiences have seen significant growth.

There has been a notable increase in the brand power of mid-sized brands, indicating a shift from the dominance of top-tier brands to a more competitive landscape.

Notable Brand Highlights

  • ByteDance: As a global leader in digital content and social media, ByteDance’s platforms like TikTok have become household names worldwide, driving significant brand recognition and engagement.
  • Xiaomi: Known for its high-quality yet affordable electronics, Xiaomi continues to expand its product lines and market reach, solidifying its position as a leading global brand.
  • SHEIN: The online fashion retailer has disrupted traditional retail with its fast-fashion model, capturing a significant global market share and expanding rapidly across multiple regions.
  • BYD: In the automotive sector, BYD’s focus on electric vehicles has positioned it as a key player in the global shift towards sustainable transportation solutions.
  • OPPO and Vivo: These smartphone giants have continued to innovate and expand their international presence, offering advanced technology and appealing to a broad consumer base.

Strategic Insights

The report suggests that the key to the success of Chinese global brands lies in their ability to offer meaningful differentiation and engage deeply with consumers. Brands that can innovate and adapt to changing consumer preferences will continue to thrive in the competitive global market.

  • Consumer Engagement: Successful brands have invested in understanding and meeting the functional and emotional needs of their consumers, creating strong brand loyalty and advocacy.
  • Technological Innovation: Continuous investment in technology and innovation has enabled Chinese brands to stay ahead of the curve, offering cutting-edge products that resonate with global consumers.
  • Global Strategy: A tailored approach to international markets, considering local preferences and cultural nuances, has been crucial for the expansion and acceptance of Chinese brands abroad.

Top 50 Brands from Kantar BrandZ 2024 China Global Brands

  1. ByteDance
  2. Xiaomi
  3. SHEIN
  4. Lenovo
  5. Huawei
  6. AliExpress
  7. Haier
  8. TEMU
  9. OPPO
  10. Hisense
  11. TCL
  12. Tencent
  13. vivo
  14. Chery
  15. BYD
  16. Anker
  17. DJI
  18. MiHoYo
  19. OnePlus
  20. Kuaishou
  21. realme
  22. GWM
  23. TP-LINK
  24. HONOR
  25. Lynk & Co
  26. MAXUS
  27. Insta360
  28. WORX
  29. Lilith
  30. Century Games
  31. JAC
  32. Roborock
  33. CHANGAN
  34. Geely
  35. Midea
  36. DiDi
  37. POCO
  38. ECOVACS
  39. Trip.com
  40. Magic Tavern
  41. Habby
  42. Tsingtao Beer
  43. EcoFlow
  44. Infinix
  45. IGG
  46. Kunlun
  47. eufy
  48. 37Games
  49. NetEase Games
  50. LightInTheBox

BCG: The most innovative Chinese companies

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Top 50 Mobile Apps in China in Q1 2024 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/30778/top-mobile-apps/ Wed, 15 May 2024 06:30:00 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=30778

China's mobile internet is booming, with active users surging past 1.23 billion in March 2024, a jump of over 20 million year-on-year, according to QuestMobile.

This growth underscores the continued dominance of mobile in China's digital landscape. QuestMobile also unveiled its ranking of the top 50 apps for Q1 2024 (below) across diverse categories, providing a fascinating snapshot of the apps captivating Chinese consumers.

The list, which excludes categories like app stores, carrier services, and gaming platforms, highlights the leading app in each sector based on average MAU over the three-month period.

Unsurprisingly, Tencent's WeChat reigns supreme, towering over the competition with over 1 billion MAU. It's the only app to breach the 1 billion user mark, solidifying its status as the undisputed king of China's mobile ecosystem.

Alibaba's Taobao and Alipay secure the second and third spots with 921 million and 800 million MAU, respectively, demonstrating the end...

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Pinduoduo’s Foray into Southeast Asia: High Hopes Meet Harsh Realities https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/43786/pinduoduos-temu-southeast-asia/ Wed, 17 Apr 2024 02:58:00 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=43786

Pinduoduo, a powerhouse in China known for its disruptive e-commerce strategies and rapid growth, turned its sights on Southeast Asia as the next frontier for expansion. With its subsidiary platform TEMU, the company aimed to replicate its success by leveraging its aggressive market penetration tactics in a region characterized by vibrant economic growth and an increasing shift towards digital services.

The expansion strategy began with the launch of TEMU in the Philippines and Malaysia, chosen for their significant Chinese diaspora and promising economic indicators, suggesting a readiness for enhanced online retail activities. These markets, with their robust economic growth and a population increasingly inclined towards digital consumption, seemed ideal for Pinduoduo’s low-cost, high-volume business model.

However, the expected easy victories did not materialize. Despite a successful pilot in Japan and Korea, the Southeast Asian venture faced unexpected setbacks right from...

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Chinese Entrepreneurs Seize Early Profits from OpenAI’s Sora https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/43598/chinese-entrepreneurs-openais-sora/ Tue, 27 Feb 2024 03:45:00 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=43598

Before OpenAI Sora's public testing, a niche market emerged in China, capitalizing on the collective anxiety to be ahead in the AI curve—selling knowledge courses and speculative ventures around Sora.

The introduction of OpenAI's video model Sora in early 2024, following the stir caused by the text-to-text LLMs in 2023, showcased the relentless pace of technological advancements. With the allure of new technology, the rush to gain a competitive edge in potentially disruptive fields has led to a fertile ground for speculators and opportunists.

An investigation by The Beijing News on February 20, 2024, unveiled a bustling market of "Sora tutorials" across e-commerce and social platforms.

These tutorials, varying in price from a few to nearly a hundred yuan, often promised insider knowledge and strategies to monetize Sora. However, a closer look revealed that up to 90% of the content available in these courses could easily be found online, questioning the actual value offe...

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CIW Premium https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/premium/ Fri, 16 Feb 2024 08:41:00 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?page_id=43555 China Digital Insights

CIW Dossier China Digital Insights (DCDI) is compiled to provide statistical information about China digital insights on the internet economy, digital trends, online users, mobile apps, and e-commerce. Click here to download.

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E-commerce Market

Jul 2021

CIW Dossier “China E-Commerce” is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s e-commerce market including online retail, cross-border e-commerce, e-commerce users, and mobile shopping apps. If you need an overall insight into China’s e-commerce market, this is what you should read.

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China 618 Shopping Festival

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CIW Dossier “China 618 Shopping Festival” provides a perspective of the merchants regarding the performance, advertising budget, and sales expectations from the top e-commerce platforms for 618 shopping festival.

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China Social E-Commerce

Apr 2021

CIW Dossier “China Social E-Commerce” is compiled to provide four business models and statistical information about China’s social e-commerce market. Four social e-commerce models: group buying, membership, community-based, content-driven.

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China Pets Retail Market

Jan 2021

CIW Dossier on China Pets Market provides an overview of China’s pet retail market as long as the characteristics of internet users in the corresponding segment.

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Double 11 (Singles Day)

Nov 2020

CIW Dossier Double 11 is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s largest shopping festival led by Alibaba Tmall platform including pre-sale data, top retailers’ performance by GMV, and top brands on Double 11 by categories, etc.

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Payment

Oct 2020

CIW Dossier Payment is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s payment market on online payment, mobile payment, third-party mobile payment, and users’ preference for payment method in different usage scenarios. If you need an overall insight on China’s payment market, this is what you should read.

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Top Mobile Apps

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China’s mobile apps market, including mobile internet overview, mobile apps market, top mobile apps, select mobile apps, and mini programs.

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Taobao Live

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CIW Dossier Taobao Live – is compiled to provide statistical information about Alibaba’s live streaming platform.

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Nov 2019

Statistical information about China’s outbound travel market.

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CIW Dossier China Online Travel Market is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s online travel market including market overview, online air ticket booking, online accommodation booking, online vacation booking, outbound travel, and high-end travel.

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China Media Ad Spending

Feb 2019

China’s overall media advertising market growth and the top advertisers in China in 2018.

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Luckin

June 2019

Luckin is China’s second largest and fastest-growing coffee network, in terms of the number of stores and cups of coffee sold, according to the Frost & Sullivan Report. While operating three types of stores, Luckin strategically focus on pick-up stores, which accounted for 91.3% of their total stores as of March 31, 2019.

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China Internet Users in Tier-3 to Tier-5 Cities

Jun 2019

Quick view of China’s internet users’ time usage and expenditure in lower-tier cities (tier-3, 4, 5).

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WeChat Official Account

July 2019

CIW Dossier “WeChat Official Account” is compiled to provide a quick view of Tencent’s WeChat content ecosystem Official Account.

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Cross-border E-Commerce Female Shoppers

Jan 2019

Statistical overview of China’s female shoppers purchasing overseas consumers goods.

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China Advertising Market

Dec 2018

Statistical information about China’s advertising market on traditional advertising market, online advertising market, invalid traffic of digital ads, and mobile e-commerce ads. If you need an overall insight on China’s advertising market, this is what you should read.

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China Smartphone

Dec 2018

CIW Dossier China Smartphones is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s smartphone market including smartphone shipments, sales, and market share information as well as top smartphone brands and user profiles.

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Weibo Online Shoppers

Nov 2018

CIW Dossier Weibo Online Shoppers is compiled to provide statistical information about Weibo users who are interested in online shopping. If you need an overall insight on the demographics, purchasing behavior, and engagement, etc. of Weibo online shoppers, this is what you should read.

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China’s High-end Travelers

Aug 2018

CIW Dossier “China’s High-end Travelers” is compiled to provide an overview of China’s high-end travelers, including their travel choices, demographics, and travel habits.

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WeChat Intro

July 2018

CIW Dossier on WeChat is compiled to provide an introduction of this digital ecosystem and statistical information about China’s top mobile social application. It provides insights on WeChat Official Accounts, WeChat Pay, Mini-Programs, and advertising channels.

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Online video market

Sep 2018

CIW Dossier China Online Videos is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s online video market including online video apps, mobile video users, paid video users, short video apps, and live streaming apps. If you need an overall insight on China’s online video market, this is what you should read.

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Pinduoduo (PDD)

Sep 2018

CIW Dossier Pinduoduo is compiled to provide statistical information about Pinduoduo on group purchase model, app ranking, financial performances, user profile, IPO, and counterfeit problems.

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Golden Week Tourism

Oct 2018

CIW Dossier Golden Week (National Day) Tourism is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s tourism market for the peak travel period – Golden Week / China’s National Day holidays.

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Sports & Fitness Mobile Apps

Nov 2018

CIW Dossier China Mobile Fitness & Sports Apps is compiled to provide statistical information about China’s sports & fitness mobile app market.

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WeChat E-commerce Amplifies with Video Account Surge https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/43528/tencent-video-account-ecommerce/ Mon, 12 Feb 2024 06:27:05 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=43528 Despite numerous attempts to dominate the e-commerce stage, Tencent has never relinquished its ambition in the competitive arena.

A recent unveiling at the “2024 WeChat Open Class PRO” has shone a light on its video account e-commerce business, demonstrating a nearly threefold increase in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) in 2023. This growth is complemented by a more than 244% rise in order volume and an approximately 300% increase in product offerings.

Industry insiders estimate that live commerce via WeChat’s video accounts generated a GMV between 40 to 50 billion yuan in 2022. Following the reported threefold growth, the 2023 figures are projected to hit between 120 and 150 billion yuan.

Li Chengdong, an e-commerce analyst and founder of Dolphin Think Tank, acknowledges the impressive growth rates of video account e-commerce in 2023. However, he notes the sector’s scale remains modest compared to giants like Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, whose GMVs have breached the trillion yuan mark, alongside emerging live commerce platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou.

A significant development is Tencent’s integration of video account e-commerce with its WeChat advertising system, allowing for video account livestreams to be promoted within Moments. This new feature opens up fresh avenues for traffic acquisition, potentially boosting conversion rates by shortening the consumer journey from ad click to purchase.

The integration extends beyond advertising, as various e-commerce formats within the WeChat ecosystem, such as social commerce and mini-program commerce, are linking up with video account e-commerce. This strategic move positions video accounts as a foundational infrastructure within WeChat e-commerce, facilitating a seamless flow of both public and private domain traffic within the social network.

WeChat’s new social e-commerce platform integrates Shopping Accounts

Launched in 2020 as a counter to Douyin and Kuaishou, WeChat’s video accounts rapidly developed a comprehensive suite of short video functionalities. By integrating with other WeChat services like Official Accounts, Search, and Mini Programs, video accounts have become a crucial part of the ecosystem.

The platform’s commercial exploration, especially in live commerce, started in earnest around the first half of 2021. According to Yu Haijun, founder and general manager of Guangzhou Zhi Ling Network Science and Technology Co., Ltd., early adopters included notable brands drawn by the platform’s promise of a refined operational framework focusing on user experience.

Tencent’s Q3 2023 earnings report highlighted a more than 50% year-on-year increase in total video account views, with WeChat’s video account content ecosystem and creator base continuing to expand. Partnering platforms like Weimob reported a 47.6% increase in video account merchants and a 50.5% increase in their GMV in the first half of 2023, further underscoring the growing importance of video accounts in the e-commerce landscape.

Despite these advances, some insiders express dissatisfaction with the growth rate, pointing to a relatively low ad load rate in video content compared to other platforms. This limitation suggests a need for increased user engagement and refined recommendation algorithms to boost traffic and conversion rates.

The integration of WeChat Moments ads with video account commerce represents a deepening of video accounts’ role within Tencent’s ecosystem, offering merchants enhanced promotional opportunities and streamlined customer purchase pathways. However, achieving a significant uplift in conversion rates through this integration will require meticulous data alignment and robust cross-departmental collaboration.

As Tencent doubles down on its investment in video account and live commerce, the future of WeChat e-commerce hinges on the harmonious fusion of advertising and transactional capabilities, underscoring the platform’s commitment to enriching its commercial ecosystem.

WeChat expanding e-commerce reach with mini program integration on JD, Xiaohongshu

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Xiaohongshu’s E-Commerce Strategy with Emphasis on Live Commerce and Search Conversions https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/43407/xiaohongshu-e-commerce-strategy/ Wed, 17 Jan 2024 13:06:53 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=43407 On January 11, Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book or RED), a prominent Chinese social media platform, marked a significant shift in its business strategy by releasing its first annual e-commerce report.

The report revealed a staggering 500% year-over-year increase in the number of merchants, surpassing 100 million yuan in transaction volume, with those breaking the 10 million yuan threshold growing by 380%.

This surge underscores the platform’s rapid transformation into a bustling e-commerce hub.

In December 2023, Xiaohongshu’s COO, Conan, made a public statement that sharply contrasted his stance from five years ago when he firmly believed that Xiaohongshu should not venture into e-commerce.

“Back then, I viewed things from a community perspective. But now, I’m spearheading our e-commerce operations,” he said. This shift follows the platform’s strategic move to integrate its e-commerce and live-streaming businesses into a new transactional division, standing alongside the community and commercial departments.

Xiaohongshu has come a long way since its inception. Within six months of its launch, it introduced an overseas shopping-sharing community.

A year later, it launched an e-commerce platform called “Welfare Society.” By 2016, the platform expanded to include third-party platforms and brand merchants, experiencing rapid growth across various product categories.

However, the platform faced challenges in meeting its Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) targets in 2018 and 2019.

Interestingly, during this period, its content community business thrived, with user numbers increasing by 100 million from January to July 2019. Consequently, Xiaohongshu shifted its focus to strengthening its community aspect, becoming a favored content community among younger demographics.

For Xiaohongshu, with a daily active user count surpassing 100 million in 2022 and advertising revenues accounting for 80% of total income, diving into e-commerce became an inevitable choice.

The platform’s primary user base has always been female, with women accounting for over 80% of its users as of 2021, and a significant 60% hailing from first and second-tier cities.

This demographic, known for its strong purchasing power and high consumer intent, gave birth to Xiaohongshu’s unique “planting grass” culture.

Planting grass” refers to the practice of posting various forms of notes on the platform, recommending, sharing, and showcasing personal or brand experiences to influence user purchases. From a marketing standpoint, these recommendations and shares are akin to brand advertising, creating brand impressions in the consumer’s mind.

However, creating a brand impression and driving product purchases are two different challenges.

This disparity led to the “brand up, conversion down” phenomenon, where building brand impressions often requires positive language around beauty, advantages, and greatness, while actual product purchases are driven by discounts, price reductions, and limited-time offers.

In this marketing process, brand building and sales conversion are distinct, typically handled by offline malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, and online platforms like Pinduoduo, JD.com, and Taobao.

Xiaohongshu seemed to have solved this challenge by combining search functionality with buyer-driven sales.

Unlike traditional passive content consumption, searching indicates interest in a product, restaurant, or location. As such, search engine marketing has always been highly effective.

With 70% of its active monthly users engaging in search activities, Xiaohongshu focused on closing the loop from search to e-commerce.

The platform’s shift towards e-commerce is also evident in its move towards buyer-driven live-stream commerce.

For instance, in January 2023, Dong Jie’s live-stream debut on Xiaohongshu generated an estimated GMV of over 50 million yuan. Following her, “Chu Dai Fu” achieved fame with her first live-stream lasting nearly six hours and generating sales over 50 million yuan.

These events marked the entry of celebrities and buyers like “Yi Ke KK” and “Dang Ran Shi Dang” into the live-stream sales arena.

Data from August to November 2023 illustrates the platform’s e-commerce momentum, with two billion-level buyers, 21 million-level buyers, and 20 hundred-million-level buyers emerging within just three months.

During the 2023 Singles’ Day shopping festival, Xiaohongshu saw its e-commerce user count triple and order numbers nearly quadruple compared to the previous year.

The number of merchants participating in the event and the GMV from live streaming increased by over four times, highlighting the enormous potential of buyer-driven e-commerce on the platform.

In conclusion, Xiaohongshu’s strategic pivot towards commercialization, as evidenced by organizational restructuring, live-streaming trials, data collaboration, and open search fields, marks a new era for the platform.

By focusing on search conversion and live-streaming sales, Xiaohongshu caters to its core demographic’s shopping needs and cultivates shopping habits among a broader user base. This evolution from a community-focused platform to a dynamic e-commerce powerhouse underscores Xiaohongshu’s adaptability and growth in the digital era.

Review: Xiaohongshu’s live streaming on Business Accounts

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Insights of China Double 11 Shopping Festival 2023 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/43223/double-11-shopping-festival-2023/ Mon, 13 Nov 2023 12:00:32 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=43223 The Double 11 Shopping Festival, also known as Singles’ Day, has become synonymous with peak consumerism in China. Yet, as we approach 2023, the landscape is shifting. This year, we’re seeing a return to rationality, a rise in local brands, and the untapped potential of the “silver economy.”

Consumer Behavior: A Rational Return

Gone are the days of impulsive “buy, buy, buy” mantras.

Today’s consumers are more discerning, seeking value for money, and brand credibility over the lure of influencers and livestream promotions. The impact of livestreams has waned, with only 22% of consumers citing it as a key purchasing factor, a decline from 32% in 2021.

Market Trends: The Price Wars

E-commerce platforms are intensifying their competition on pricing, with aggressive strategies like price matching and guarantees of the lowest prices on the web. This year’s theme for JD.com’s Double 11 is “Real Cheap,” reflecting a market shift back to core retail principles: value for money.

The Rise of Domestic Brands

Chinese local brands are set to be the biggest winners of Double 11 this year.

A significant 66% of consumers plan to increase their spending on domestic brands, turning away from international products.

This trend is driven by a deepened trust in the quality and safety of local brands, with young consumers actively seeking local alternatives to overseas brands, especially in apparel and accessories.

The Silver Economy

With over 280 million people aged 60 and above, China hosts the world’s largest “silver” consumer group, many of whom are proficient in using the internet and smart devices.

They represent a vital yet understated market segment, with a buying motivation split between seeking discounts and enhancing the quality of later life. The influence of family and friends plays a significant role in their purchasing decisions, indicating that reputation and word of mouth are paramount within this demographic.

For Double 11 in 2023, expect the following:

  • A market driven by rational consumer choices, with less emphasis on influencer marketing and more on product quality and brand reputation.
  • A surge in domestic brand loyalty, as consumers prioritize local products over international offerings.
  • An emphasis on pricing strategies, with platforms offering various subsidies, price guarantees, and direct discounts to capture market share.
  • A need for tailored marketing strategies to cater to the growing silver economy, which seeks quality, usability, and trustworthy recommendations.

The Double 11 Shopping Festival of 2023 is shaping up to be a battleground for price and value, a showcase for national brands, and a testament to the discerning power of the silver economy. As consumer behavior becomes more rational, e-commerce platforms and brands must adapt to these evolving trends to captivate the Chinese market.

Overall Performance

The 2023 Double 11 event showcased a total online retail sales volume of 515.56 billion yuan during the peak sale period (October 31st to November 3rd), marking a 9.5% year-on-year increase. This growth signifies robust overall performance amidst an evolving e-commerce landscape​​.

According to data from Xingtu, the total GMV on comprehensive e-commerce platforms totaled 277.7 billion yuan from 8pm 10 November till the end of 11 November. 60% from Tmall, JD.com about 28%, Pinduoduo 7%. Cross-border import e-commerce accounted for 34.1 billion yuan.

Strategic Shifts and Platform Performances

A noticeable shift this year was the focus on low pricing strategies across platforms. Major e-commerce giants like JD.com, Tmall-Taobao, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Pinduoduo emphasized offering the lowest prices, with individual approaches to discounts and subsidies​​.

The sales distribution among platforms was quite varied. Tmall led with a 35.4% share, followed by JD.com (21.6%), Douyin (9.6%), Taobao (8.6%), and Pinduoduo (6.7%). The combined Tmall and Taobao, forming the Taobao-Tmall group, dominated with a 44% sales share​​.

Douyin’s rise to the third position highlights the increasing acceptance of its e-commerce model, which integrates interest-based shopping, short video content, and live-streaming​​.

Consumer Trends

The 2023 festival saw more diversified and personalized consumption. There was a notable acceleration in high-quality, experiential, and interest-driven consumption. Products catering to unique hobbies like rock climbing, surfing, and camping gained popularity, along with smart products like open-ear headphones and electric adjustable desks​​.

Health management and beauty products also saw a surge in demand. The trend towards “home-based healthcare” led to increased sales of oxygen concentrators, blood oxygen monitors, hearing aids, and electric wheelchairs. The anti-aging segment, particularly home beauty devices, witnessed explosive growth​​.

Individual Platform Highlights

JD.com: Achieved record-breaking sales, orders, and user numbers. Over 60 brands surpassed 1 billion yuan in sales, and nearly 20,000 brands saw a more than threefold increase in transaction volume compared to last year. The platform also reported significant growth in live broadcasting viewership, with a total of over 380 million views​​​​.

Tmall: Reported 402 brands exceeding 1 billion yuan in sales, with national brands making up a significant portion. The platform witnessed a historic peak in user visits and continued to expand its market share, especially in lower-tier markets​​​​.

Douyin: Experienced significant growth in GMV, with daily GMV of certain products exceeding one million yuan. The platform’s “official discount” strategy played a key role in this success, highlighting social commerce’s and live streaming’s power in driving sales​​​​.

These insights reflect the robust nature of China’s e-commerce ecosystem and underscore the changing consumer preferences and strategic shifts among the leading online shopping platforms. The Double 11 festival continues to evolve, setting new trends and benchmarks in the global e-commerce landscape.

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The Billion-Dollar ‘Planting Grass’ Economy: Content, Commerce, and Social Shopping https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/42711/zhongcao-planting-grass/ Tue, 11 Apr 2023 05:00:53 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=42711

It's hard to pinpoint when it started, but major Chinese tech companies have become obsessed with "planting grass" (Zhongcao).

"Planting grass", or Zhongcao, refers to recommending quality products to others to entice purchases or generating a desire to experience or possess something based on external information.

In recent years, internet giants such as Tencent, Alibaba, ByteDance, and Meituan have been entering the "planting grass" race, focusing on the grass-planting economy.

Nearly 20 grass-planting products have been launched by these companies in the past two years, and some have even rolled out similar products overseas. However, most of these products have fizzled out, turning "planting grass" into a lingering concern for these tech giants.

At its core, the "grass-planting economy" is an attention economy, a further extension of the "internet celebrity economy". According to public reports, the grass-planting economy has already reached a scale of hundreds of billi...

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China GDP Grew 3% in 2022 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/31877/gdp/ Wed, 25 Jan 2023 12:00:38 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=31877 China’s GDP in 2022 was 121,020.7 billion yuan, an increase of 3.0 percent over the previous year.

The GDP growth in 2022 was primarily driven by the mining sector (7.3%), manufacturing (3.0%) and production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water (5.0%).

High-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing also grew at a faster rate (7.4% and 5.6% respectively). Agriculture and animal husbandry also saw an increase in output.

In 2022, China’s total value of imports and exports of goods was 42,067.8 billion yuan, an increase of 7.7% compared to the previous year. The total value of exports was up by 10.5%, and the total value of imports was up by 4.3%.

The trade balance was in surplus by 5,863.0 billion yuan. The imports and exports by private enterprises grew by 12.9%, and the imports and exports of mechanical and electrical products grew by 2.5%.

The consumer price in 2022 went up by 2.0% compared to the previous year, with the highest increase in transportation and communication (5.2%). The producer prices for industrial products went up by 4.1% and the purchasing prices for industrial producers went up by 6.1%.

Employment was generally stable, and the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 5.5%. The number of rural migrant workers was 295.62 million, up by 1.1% compared to the previous year.

Top 10 Smart City Forecast in China 2022-2025

China GDP Grew 8.1% in 2021; Q4 slowed to 4%

According to the preliminary estimates, China gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021 reached 114,367 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year at constant prices with an average two-year growth of 5.1 percent.

  • Q1 GDP up by 18.3 percent year on year
  • Q2 7.9 percent
  • Q3 4.9 percent
  • Q4 4.0 percent

By industries, the value-added of the primary industry was 8,308.6 billion yuan, up by 7.1 percent over the previous year, that of the secondary industry was 45,090.4 billion yuan, up by 8.2 percent and that of the tertiary industry was 60,968.0 billion yuan, up by 8.2 percent.

The total output of grain in 2021 was 682.85 million tons, an increase of 13.36 million tons, or up by 2.0 percent over the previous year. Of this total, the output of summer grain was 145.96 million tons, up by 2.2 percent, and that of early rice was 28.02 million tons, up by 2.7 percent. The output of autumn grain reached 508.88 million tons, up by 1.9 percent.

The total value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 9.6 percent over the previous year, an average two-year growth of 6.1 percent.

  • mining was up by 5.3 percent
  • manufacturing up by 9.8 percent
  • production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water up by 11.4 percent.
  • high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing went up by 18.2 percent and 12.9 percent respectively

The production of new energy vehicles, industrial robots, integrated circuits, and microcomputer equipment grew by 145.6 percent, 44.9 percent, 33.3 percent, and 22.3 percent, respectively.

In 2021, the national industrial capacity utilization rate reached 77.5 percent, 3.0 percentage points higher than that of the previous year.

The tertiary industry experienced fast growth in 2021.

The value-added of the information transmission, software and information technology services, accommodation and catering services, and transportation, storage and postal services grew by 17.2 percent, 14.5 percent, and 12.1 percent over the previous year respectively.

In 2021, the Index of Services Production grew by 13.1 percent over that of the previous year with the average two-year growth of 6.0 percent.

In 2021, the investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) reached 54,454.7 billion yuan, up by 4.9 percent over the previous year with the average two-year growth of 3.9 percent.

Specifically, the investment in infrastructure went up by 0.4 percent, manufacturing up by 13.5 percent, and real estate development up by 4.4 percent.  The private investment was 30,765.9 billion yuan, up by 7.0 percent, accounting for 56.5 percent of the total investment.

The investment in high-tech industries grew by 17.1 percent, 12.2 percentage points faster than the total investment, of which the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 22.2 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively.

In terms of high-tech manufacturing, the investment in electronics and communication equipment manufacturing and in manufacturing of computers and office devices grew by 25.8 percent and 21.1 percent, respectively.

In terms of high-tech services, the investment in e-commerce services and services for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements grew by 60.3 percent and 16.0 percent, respectively.

The investment in social sector went up by 10.7 percent over the previous year. Specifically, the investment in the health sector and in the education sector went up by 24.5 percent and 11.7 percent respectively.

In 2021, the total value of imports and exports of goods was 39,100.9 billion yuan, an increase of 21.4 percent over the previous year.

Specifically, the total value of exports was 21,734.8 billion yuan, up by 21.2 percent; the total value of imports was 17,366.1 billion yuan, up by 21.5 percent. The trade balance was 4,368.7 billion yuan in surplus.

The imports and exports of general trade grew by 24.7 percent, accounting for 61.6 percent of the total value of the imports and exports, an increase of 1.6 percentage points over the previous year.

The imports and exports by private enterprises grew by 26.7 percent, accounting for 48.6 percent of the total value of the imports and exports, 2 percentage points higher than that of the previous year.

Find out about China’s economy in 2021:

China IoT market forecast 2021-2024; Internet of Vehicles the fastest growing segment

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WeChat Users & Platform Statistics 2023 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/31608/wechat-statistics/ Thu, 12 Jan 2023 00:00:40 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=31608

In 2022, the total views of the original content on WeChat Channel (video account) increased by 350% year on year, and the scale of live broadcast increased by 300%, according to WeChat’s data released on 10 January 2023.

The commercial potential of live video broadcasting continues to be released, and the corresponding e-commerce sales increased by more than eight times year on year.

In 2022, the number of daily active creators and the average number of videos uploaded by the video account increased by more than 100% year on year, the number of creators with at least 10,000 fans increased by 308%.

The number of video account earners increased by 101%, and the total income of live video anchors increased by 447%.

Live video GMV increased by more than 8 times year on year in 2022, and the average selling price exceeded 200 yuan. Among them, the top three categories of consumption are covered by clothing, food, and beauty.

The monthly active users of WeChat Search have increased to 800 million, and the total search volume increased by 54%. Mini Programs are widely used in scenic spots, hotels, airports, and other fields, and the number of WeChat Mini Programs has increased by 183%.

WeChat Search contributed to 27% of Official Account follower growth and 20% of Mini Program’s new daily active users. Its contribution to WeChat Channel follower growth has increased by 120%.

WeChat MAU

Over 330 million of WeChat’s (known as Weixin in China) 1.2883 billion monthly active users use video calling. 780 million users are on the social networking section WeChat Moments and 120 million publish updates. The content network WeChat Official Account has 360 million users.

WeChat has evolved from an instant messaging app to a service meeting the digital needs of over 1.27 billion MAU in Q4 2021. Each day, more than 120 million active users post in social networking Moments, 360 million users read Official Accounts articles, and 500 million users access Mini Programs (Q1 2022) daily.

For Q4 2021, WeChat daily active advertisers expanded by over 30% year-on-year. Over one-third of Moments’ advertising revenue was generated from advertisements using Mini Programs as landing pages and advertisements connecting users to customer service representatives via WeCom.

WeChat Video Accounts’ time spent per user and total video views more than doubled year-on-year as Tencent enriched content diversity and enhanced the product experience.

WeChat Mini Programs

The daily active users on WeChat Mini Programs reached 450 million according to WeChat official data in January 2022. The transaction volume of catering, tourism, and retail increased by 100% year-on-year. Mini Program DAU reached 500 million (Q1 2022).

The number of Mini Program developers has exceeded 3 million.

In 2020, the daily active users of WeChat Mini Programs exceeded 400 million, according to its official data shared at its annual event WeChat Public Lecture.

The number of mini programs used per user increased by 25%, the average transaction value per user grew by 67%, the number of programs with transactions increased by 68%, and the annual transaction volume of more than doubled in 2020.

In 2020, more than 100 million people purchased in shopping malls and department stores on WeChat Mini Programs. With the help of mini program pre-sale + offline self pick-up mode, more than 300 million users purchased fresh fruits and vegetables.

WeChat Mini Programs overview

WeChat Games

In 2020, the commercial realization of WeChat mini games increased by 20%.

Last year, the proportion of male and female users in the distribution of mini games accounted for 50% respectively. 40% of the users in the first and second-tier cities, and 65% of the users aged 30 and above.

Compared with 2019, the per capita game duration of mini games increased by 50%, and the average number of games played increased by 20% in 2020.

China game live streaming revenues to double by 2021

WeChat Search

The number of monthly active users of WeChat search has reached 700 million according to WeChat official data released in January 2022.

WeChat search staff said that in the mobile Internet era, search should not be limited by the search box, but need to be accessible by the touch. Users can search while chatting.

WeChat search will screen out the high-quality content of WeChat and produce a more accurate connection with users.

In the future, it can expand the search scope to the whole internet-based the needs of users. The search results are currently mostly provided by WeChat Official Account and Sogou.

Top search trends in China

WeChat Pay

In January 2022, WeChat shared the latest progress on WeChat Pay:

  • 23 thousand monthly service providers
  • Over 10 million merchants
  • More than 1800 banks and Payment institutions
  • 23 thousand monthly merchants
  • In the next three years, WeChat Pay will continue to carry out digital upgrading of WeStore, with a planned investment of more than 10 billion yuan

In 2020, Zhifufen, a credit score on WeChat Pay, saw more than 240 million users. It boosted the conversion rate of e-commerce orders by 14% and the repurchase rate of retail merchants by 73%.

In 2021, WeChat mini stores and Zhuanzhuan (a secondhand-goods marketplace) will integrate Zhifufen.

In the e-commerce industry, WeChat Pay’s Zhifufen enables post-payment after receiving the delivery and faster refund. Users can quickly receive a refund after submitting return logistics information.

As of January 2022, more than 50% of users have activated Zhifufen, whose solutions cover more than 3000 industries. WeChat Pay unit cooperates with the e-commerce industry on “buy first and pay later”, which has been used by more than 100 million users.

Zhifufen also announced the launch of audio and video members’ services such as “watch first and pay later”, which helped solve the problems that bothered audio/music and video users to deduct fees in advance and forget to terminate their contracts.

China’s online payment users penetration reaching 86%

Enterprise version of WeChat: WeCom

In 2020, there were 80,000 enterprise WeChat partners, with a year-on-year growth of 400%. 

11.91 million applications connect to WeCom, with a year-on-year increase of 250%. Since COVID-19, there have been 5.5 million real enterprises and organizations on WeCom with 130 million active users reaching 400 million WeChat users.Click To Tweet

Acquire, convert, and retain customers through WeChat Ads + WeChat Work (WeCom)

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Consumer VR shipment in China up 166% in H1 2022 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/30976/ar-vr-forecast/ Tue, 06 Dec 2022 12:00:28 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=30976

Most of the new VR products in China are standalone headsets, with many using Pancake lenses for the consumer market, which sees increasing shipments of VR products as the VR content ecosystem dominated by gaming and fitness is developing, according to IDC.

Consumer standalone VR shipments in China increased by 166.2% year-over-year in the first half of 2022, according to IDC. China standalone VR in Q1 reached 229,000 units shipment while Q2 had almost 273,000 units shipped.

VR Shipment Forecast

IDC has observed these five significant improvements in VR products:

1. Fresnel lens is being gradually replaced by the Pancake lens to improve both visual experience and wear comfort

Traditional 6dof VR standalone headsets often come with a Fresnel lens, which has a significant screen-door effect and leads to a thick front part on the headset.

The standalone headsets launched in the second half of this ye...

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China online advertising market insights 2022 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/31087/online-advertising-market/ Tue, 05 Apr 2022 11:00:02 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=31087

In 2022, 42.9% of advertisers in China expect to increase spending in digital marketing, 25 percentage points more than advertisers expect to reduce spending, according to CTR.

China advertising market vs online ad market

Advertisers of large enterprises with a budget of 500 million yuan or more are more confident in digital marketing spending. In 2022, 52.4% of advertisers are expected to increase spending in digital marketing.

The top online advertising medium is e-commerce, accounting for 46.5%, followed by short video (16.6%) and News (16.6%), according to data from QuestMobile. Short video advertising still saw fast growth of over 31% in 2021.

When Chinese advertisers select platforms for digital marketing, platform traffic is the core consideration factor of their advertising budget allocation, ranking first, accounting for 73.8%.

At the same time, advertisers pay more attention to pl...

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6 trends of China’s digital economy innovation https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/33167/digital-economy-innovation/ Wed, 23 Feb 2022 12:43:08 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=33167

In a relatively short time, China has become one of the world's largest digital economies. Thanks to the support of nearly one billion internet users, China's e-commerce sales rose to $1.7 trillion in 2020, accounting for about 30% of the country's total retail sales.

But scale is not the whole point of the story. Innovation and disruption are the keys. China has bred many cutting-edge innovations and consulting company McKinsey summarizes the six trends of China's digital innovation in the next few years including large retail integration, service virtualization, travel revolution, digital social life, Industrial Internet of Things, digital urbanization.
Large retail integration
Scattered retail areas will continue to be integrated, and omnichannel retail will be combined with on-demand economy, social economy, and retail supply chain.

Retail and social areas will usher in large-scale seamless integration. Social e-commerce continued to flourish, and its proportion in total e-...

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China Digital Luxury Report 2021 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/31265/bcg-luxury-consumer-behavior/ Mon, 07 Feb 2022 11:00:19 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=31265

China's post-90s (those born after 1990) are expected to contribute to 46% of China’s luxury purchases in 2021, according to joint research by Tencent Marketing Insight (TMI) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

China's post-90s already make up 50% of the luxury goods buyers in the country, with a fast growth rate of between 25-35 percent in the past year.

Younger consumers were likely to buy luxury items as a way to express or reward themselves, as well as to experience the brand. They also valued new shopping experiences such as more interactive online shopping or newly launching brands’ pop-up stores.

Heavy-spending consumers who spend more than 300,000 yuan (US$47,000) annually on luxury items represent 40% of the total luxury sales. The number of people in this category will grow at least 28% in the coming year and brands should focus on driving repeat purchases and brand loyalty to continue the momentum according to the Tencent report.

Consumers at large tend to switch ...

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Double 11 (Singles’ Day) Shopping Festival 2021: Alibaba Tmall GVM hit US$84.54 billion https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/32640/double-eleven-2021/ Fri, 12 Nov 2021 07:05:54 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=32640 Would Double 11, the biggest shopping event in China, remain the most important shopping festival in 2021? The total amount of GMV this year will be twice that of 2019, reaching about US$85 billion, according to App Annie’s forecast.

Alibaba Tmall Double 11 Shopping Festival

Alibaba Group kicked off its Tmall Double 11 Shopping Festival 2021 on 20 October 2021. This is Alibaba’s 13th annual Double Eleven shopping festival in China with an emphasis on sustainability and inclusiveness.

Tmall Double Eleven Shopping Festival
Tmall Double Eleven Festival

This year marks the largest Double 11 Festival to date, with a record 290,000 brands participating. Alibaba Tmall is offering more than 14 million deals to over 900 million consumers in China. Double 11 2021 will once again have two sales windows – the first will be from November 1 to 3, and the second will be on November 11, on the day of the main event.

Livestreaming will be a key consumer engagement mechanism for brands and merchants to build awareness and drive sales. Starting on October 20 throughout the Festival, Taobao Live will feature 700 leading KOLs, celebrities and brand representatives in livestream sessions.

In addition, Taobao will roll out a new feature for users to share their “shopping cart” items with friends and family, creating a more social shopping experience.

Taobao app introduced an option for “senior mode“, a new feature designed to make the user interface more accessible for senior citizens.

It offers voice-assisted technology, simplified navigation, larger font size and icons. The app homepage also offers games for elderly users to unlock special discounts for groceries, making the experience more engaging for the silver generation.

Consumers are encouraged to share their “Goods for Good” purchases with their friends and family, and Alibaba will make a RMB1 donation for every successful social media share.

Launched in 2006, Alibaba’s “Goods for Good” program enables merchants to donate a portion of their sales to charitable organizations of their choice, while consumers can support their favorite charitable causes through their purchases.

The donations from this year’s Double 11 Festival will provide support to three major beneficiary groups: elderly citizens living in solitude, “left-behind children” in remote areas and low-income workers.

Tmall Double 11 Pre-sale

At 8 p.m. on October 20, Tmall Double 11 officially opened the pre-sale. This year, Tmall’s Double 11 will collectively discount 14 million products, of which all the popular products in 1000 brand flagship stores will be subsidized to 50%.

According to Taobao live streaming data, Li Jiaqi, one of the top anchors, listed 439 products on the evening of October 20. The cumulative transaction value of the live broadcast room is as high as 11.5 billion yuan, and the estimated sales volume is 37.71 million.

In addition, the maximum sales volume of a single product was 1.8777 million yuan, the maximum sales value of a single product was 389 million yuan, the average customer purchase was 306 yuan, and 2.83 million new followers.

Another top influencer Viya started live streaming at 12:55 on October 20, with a cumulative live streaming duration of 14 hours and 28 minutes. The total sales reached 8.533 billion yuan and the average customer purchase was 317 yuan.

There are 499 products listed and the estimated cumulative sales volume is 26.89 million. The maximum sales volume of a single product is 605,600, and the maximum sales value of a single product is 490 million yuan.

Alibaba Tmall Double 11 Sales/GMV

In 2021, Alibaba’s Tmall Double 11 shopping festival achieved a new record of US$84.54 billion in gross merchandise volume.

More than 2.5 million consumers purchased green products on Tmall. Tesla, for example, sold more charging stations for its electric cars within the first minute on November 11 than it had during the entire festival last year.

JD Double 11

Presales

On October 20, the 2021 JD”s Double 11, Singles Day Grand Promotion, began with the pre-sale rolling in at 8 pm. The number of customers who placed orders within the first four hours increased by nearly 40% compared with the first day of the pre-sale in 2020.

The first order delivered by JD’s on-demand “Shop Now” service was swiftly fulfilled within only 10 minutes.

According to JD, an increasing amount of young people joined the pre-sale as consumers aged 18-35 accounted for over 70% during the pre-sale period. Since many brands also opened pre-sales at 8 pm, they swiftly shattered the pre-sale record set on the first entire day of the pre-sale last year.

This shopping enthusiasm was fully ignited across China. Within the first four hours of the pre-sale, Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Beijing took the top 3 in order amounts; and when it comes to the product category, large appliances took the lead, followed by phones, sports shoes and bags, and facial care products.

Haier ranked the most popular brand out of all the large appliances during the pre-sale period, and Siemens came after.

On computers and digital products, hardware devices for education purposes came out strong.

Xiaomi, Huawei, and OPPO were also among some of the highly popular tech products, as the pre-sale order volume for Xiaomi phones in the very first hour exceeded that of the first entire day last year.

Within the first four hours of the pre-sale, order amounts of OPPO phones this year increased by 227% YoY.

This Singles Day, JD provided e-CNY (CBDC) red envelopes for users in 11 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dalian, Xi’an, Chengdu, and more, in collaboration with China Construction Bank (CCB).

Users located in these cities, who have never opened an e-CNY account, can search “e-CNY” on JD’s app to get access to the activity page. The red envelopes can be used on JD’s e-commerce app to purchase first-party products.

JD Double 11 Sales

JD.com reported a record-breaking Singles Day Grand Promotion on November 12, 2021, with transaction volume totaling RMB 349.1 billion yuan at midnight of November 11, ending the 11-day promotion that started from 8 pm on October 31.

The transaction volume of 31 brands surpassed RMB 1 billion yuan with Apple surpassing RMB 10 billion yuan.

Users from lower-tier markets account for 77% of all users for JD’s Singles Day Grand Promotion this year. JD has seen rapid growth of consumption from these markets in the categories of home appliances, medicine, and home decoration.

For example, the transaction volume of dishwashers and sweeping robots increased 2 to 3 times, with some smart home appliances even increasing 5 to 10 times.

Over 100,000 customers used e-CNY on JD’s app during the promotion period.

Xiaomi

During November’s Singles’ Day Shopping Festival, Xiaomi and Redmi brand smartphones together ranked No.1 in sales volume on Tmall.com, JD.com and Suning.com. The Group’s premium smartphones also ranked No.1 among Android smartphones priced above RMB4,000 on Tmall.com and JD.com.

In addition, during the shopping festival, the total sales volume of Xiaomi’s smartphones from its offline channels increased by more than 110% year-over-year.

Dossier: Double 11 (Singles Day)

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China internet economy overview 2021 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/32732/internet-economy/ Wed, 10 Nov 2021 01:34:10 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=32732

In the first three quarters of 2021, the Internet and related service industries showed a steady development trend, business revenue and operating profit continued to grow rapidly, and the growth rate of R & D expenses maintained double digits. The growth of online sales and short video is prominent.

In the first three quarters, China's Internet and related service enterprises above Designated Size (hereinafter referred to as "Internet enterprises") completed business revenue of RMB 1,163.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25.4%, and the average growth rate in the two years was 19.4%.

The industry's profit growth fell back from a high level and is still in a rapid growth range.

In the first three quarters, the operating profit of internet enterprises in China was 96.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%, down 10.6 and 20.7 percentage points respectively compared with the first half of the year and January August, but still 3.2 percentage points higher than t...

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Chinese Generation Z’s Media Consumption Habits https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/32658/generation-z-media/ Tue, 09 Nov 2021 01:00:01 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=32658

Music, video, and gaming are the primary types of media consuming Chinese Gen Zer’s attention. More and more new media types are emerging to attract Generation Z’s attention.

In terms of engagement, Music (59%), Video (short-form 58%, long-form 55%), and gaming (53%) are Generation Z’s top choices in China. In terms of usage time, Chinese Gen Zers spend around 2 hours on gaming, videos, and live streaming, both on workdays and during the weekend, according to a Tencent survey.

Short videos are gateways; long videos are gaining traction. More young people are watching long-form videos. 43% of they said that they have kept the habit even after Covid.

Short videos are an effective gateway to attract their attention. And long-form videos do better in terms of interaction. 39% of Gen Zers that have watched long videos over the past 3 months said that they were attracted first by short-form videos.

49% of Gen Zers engage in interactions such as comments, sharing, and shopping whi...

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Digital Transformation of Chinese Enterprises 2021 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/32587/digital-transformation/ Tue, 19 Oct 2021 00:00:01 +0000 https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/?p=32587

According to Accenture's Global CEO survey in 2021, about 70% of the Chinese executives interviewed believe that the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises has improved compared with North American and European enterprises. In contrast, about 40% of the European and North American executives interviewed believe that their enterprise competitiveness has decreased compared with Chinese enterprises.

China has the most complete and largest industrial system in the world, and 80% of the factors of production such as labor, capital, raw materials, and energy are supplied domestically.

Transportation, storage facilities, information and communication, cargo packaging and handling, and other dimensions have formed a perfect infrastructure system. In 2020, industrial digitization accounted for 80.9% of the digital economy.

Digitization is deeply empowering all walks of life in China. A series of new products and models based on digital capabilities have injected strong impetus into...

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