E-commerce platforms in China: The battle between shopping titans and rising stars
The Chinese e-commerce platform market generated a staggering sales volume of RMB 15.5 trillion in 2024. This makes China the world’s largest e-commerce market. This flourishing market is growing steadily year on year, reaching an annual growth rate of 7.2% in 2024. Chinese consumers are pampered with a myriad of platforms to choose from, such […]
From milk tea to chili sauce: Can Sexy Tea (茶颜悦色) catch up with CHAGEE (霸王茶姬)?
Founded in 2013 in Changsha, Hunan, Sexy Tea (茶颜悦色) built its brand around “New Chinese-style Fresh Tea”(新中式鲜茶) focusing primarily on light milk tea (轻乳茶). Thanks to its distinctive flavor and exclusive local business model, it quickly gained popularity. However, while its reputation soared, Sexy Tea remained cautious about expansion and only ventured beyond Changsha […]
How Chinese consumers and TikTok refugees are shaping Little Red Book in China (RedNote)
Little Red Book, also known as RedNote and Xiaohongshu (小红书), was founded in Shanghai in 2013 by Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu. Although the English name is used to refer to the collection of quotations from Chairman Mao, they are unrelated. RedNote is a lifestyle-focused social media and e-commerce platform that is widely popular among […]
Douyin vs TikTok: Decoding their similarities and differences
Douyin (抖音) and TikTok are often used interchangeably, largely because both are under the Chinese multinational internet company ByteDance and share a reputation as popular short video content platforms. However, they are distinct platforms. The most obvious difference is that Douyin is only available in China, while TikTok is available in many countries outside of […]
Omnichannel strategies in China: luxury brands’ attempts to multiply consumer touchpoints
China’s luxury market seeks steady recovery amidst challenges in 2022, which rebounded in 2023, as the market is driven by core luxury consumers who are less financially impacted by a slowing GDP. With the vigorous development of domestic luxury e-commerce, omnichannel luxury retail is making progress in China. Luxury brands are not merely adapting to […]
“Why is the air fryer no longer popular?”: Trending hashtag on Chinese social media
After experiencing three years of rapid growth, air fryer sales in China saw a significant decline in the first half of 2023. Online channel sales revenue dropped by 50.59% and sales volume declined by 44.76%. In turn, it led to a decrease in the average product price by 31 RMB. This sudden disinterest in air fryers among Chinese consumers […]
Dating apps in China: Meet the platforms bringing China’s singles together
Balancing work, personal development, social and romantic life is becoming increasingly challenging for Chinese people due to the fast pace of the modern environment. This leaves a lot of singles without life partners, especially in big cities. Recent data released by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs reveals that the rate drastically decreased from approximately 13.5 […]
Li Ziqi’s comeback: will she regain her popularity following a two-year hiatus?
If you need soothing videos, you need not search any further than Li Ziqi’s captivating rural vlog, which has garnered an impressive audience of nearly 18 million on YouTube. She hand-made soy sauce with beans, hand-dyed calico dress, and turned wood into furniture. People commented that her life is what they’ve been dreaming of. With […]
“Why young people don’t love eating snacks anymore?”: Trending hashtag on Chinese social media
Weilong (卫龙), one of China’s most popular snack brands known for its spicy noodles (辣条), is seeing a decrease of 3.5% in revenue for the first time in the past four years. Although as a snack manufacturer, Weilong mainly targets the younger generation of China, mostly under the age of 25 usually with lower purchasing power and […]
“Why are fast fashion brands facing a wave of store closures?”: Trending hashtag on Chinese social media
International fast fashion retail giants such as H&M, Zara, and GAP are finding it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing preferences of Chinese consumers. For example, H&M alone has closed 119 physical stores in China from 479 in 2020 to 445 in 2021, during which the Xinjiang cotton controversy happened, to 360 in 2022. On Weibo, there have […]
“Why people don’t like to buy diamond rings anymore?”: Trending hashtag on Chinese social media
In China, the diamond ring market is shrinking, the market size of which decreased by 18% as compared to 2022 from 82 billion RMB (approximately 11.25 billion USD). Facing a fatigued market, Darry Ring, known as DR, which specializes in engagement rings and marriage rings, experienced a sales decline of 20% in 2022 from the previous year and a net profit […]
“What are the possible drawbacks of pre-prepared meals?”: Trending hashtag on Chinese social media
In the past few years, many regions in China have adopted centralized kitchens for school meals. Catering companies are tasked to distribute meals to local schools. Concerns have arisen about the health implications of such pre-prepared meal, as parents are worried this could potentially be detrimental to students’ health in the long run. There has […]