Chinese consumers have shown increasing demand for high-quality and intelligent products containing innovative technologies during this year’s Singles Day shopping festival. Data from Tmall, Alibaba’s business-to-customer platform, showed 25,343 brands saw sales surpass CNY1 million from 8 pm on October 31 to midnight on November 11. The turnover of more than 2,000 brands exceeded CNY10 million during this period. Smart toys, pet supplies, sporting goods and jewelry witnessed explosive growth. Sales of intelligent kitchen appliances, virtual reality equipment and smart watches sky-rocketed 270%, 140% and 122% on a yearly basis, respectively, according to Tmall.
JD, another major e-commerce player, said sales of Apple iPhones surpassed CNY1 billion in just one minute of the final promotion that kicked off at 8 pm on October 31, while the transaction volume of mobile phones from Xiaomi, Huawei, Honor and Oppo surged 200% year-on-year in the first 10 minutes of the promotion. In addition, turnover of 87 international cosmetics brands jumped 200% year-on-year during the brief period.
“Consumption plays a fundamental role in China’s economic development and is the main driving force boosting economic growth,” said Wang Yun, Researcher at the Academy of Macroeconomic Research. Wang said the Singles Day online shopping festival serves as a pivotal event in unleashing consumers’ purchasing potential and bolstering a spending recovery. The consumption upgrade trend has not changed despite Covid-19 flare-ups, she said, adding that consumers are inclined to choose high-quality products and pursue exquisite lifestyles. Jason Yu, Managing Director of market research firm Kantar Worldpanel Greater China, said, “Chinese consumers have become more rational, and are carefully reviewing their needs and paying more attention to the quality of the things they buy during this year’s shopping festival.” Yu said Chinese online retailers should take a longer-term perspective and regard 11-11 as an important part of their marketing strategies throughout the year. They also need to launch new products to attract new consumers, especially younger shoppers as well as seniors. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in the January-September period, total retail sales of consumer goods reached CNY32.03 trillion, up 0.7% year-on-year. Online retail sales rose 4% year-on-year to CNY9.59 trillion in the first nine months, the China Daily reports.
