This report looks at the following areas:
- Macroeconomic environment and consumption trends
- Online retailing market and online shoppers
- Online shopping channels and frequency
- Factors important to consumers when shopping online and their perceptions of platforms
- Purchases and motivations to purchase from ecommerce private label brands
- Strategies surrounding quality, service and content upgrade
Consumers care most about quality, and low-price tactics just don’t cut it anymore. The industry urgently needs to find a better balance between platforms, sellers and shoppers. Brands and sellers should look for growth opportunities in consumers’ demand for quality and their expectations for value.
Victoria Li, Principal Analyst, China Insights
Market Definitions
Online retailing refers to a retail model that allows consumers to search for and purchase goods and services through the following online channels:
- Comprehensive shopping platforms (eg Tmall, JD, Pinduoduo)
- Fresh grocery ecommerce (eg Dingdong Maicai, Hema)
- Social commerce (eg Xiaohongshu)
- Brands’ official websites/Apps/WeChat mini programs
- Short video platforms (eg Douyin, Kuaishou)
- Discount/special sale platforms (eg Vipshop, Taote)
- Second-hand platforms (eg Xianyu)
- Cross-border ecommerce (eg Koala Seagoing)
- Food delivery platforms* (eg Ele.me, Meituan)
* refers to the purchase of other goods apart from food delivery (such as snacks, personal care products, digital products)
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definition
- What you need to know
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Market overview
- Macroeconomics and consumption trends
- Policy support helps China’s economy maintain stable growth despite pressures in 2024
- Graph 1: GDP quarterly growth rate, Q1 2018-Q3 2024
- Consumers’ financial status and confidence remain dominated by sensible expectations
- Graph 2: consumers’ financial situation, 2020-24
- Graph 3: confidence index* for improving financial situation in the next three months, 2020-24
- Macroeconomic factors dominate long-term changes in consumer confidence, with smoothly navigating the economic downturn becoming their primary consideration
- Graph 4: confidence influencers (first choice), 2022-24
- Consumers are managing both expenses and emotions
- Graph 5: future financial planning, 2019-24
- Online retail market and online shopping users
- The online retailing market has entered a period of saturation
- Graph 6: online retail sales of physical goods, 2016-24
- Graph 7: online retail sales and growth rate, 2018-24
- The contribution of online retailing to overall retail has weakened
- Graph 8: share of online retail sales in retail sales of physical goods*, 2019-24
- The population of online shoppers has slightly declined
- Graph 9: number of online shopping users, 2018-24
- Graph 10: penetration rate of online shopping users among internet users, 2018-24
- User stickiness on short video platforms advances alongside ecommerce, showing a steady development
- Graph 11: number of short video users, 2018-24
- Graph 12: penetration rate of short video users among internet users, 2018-24
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Consumer insights
- Online shopping channels and frequency
- Consumers continue to migrate from comprehensive shopping platforms to content platforms
- Graph 13: frequency of online shopping channel usage, 2024
- Graph 14: shopped via the following online channels in the last six months, 2022-24
- Over 30s have become the main driver of growth for content ecommerce
- Graph 15: shopping 1-3 times or more per week through an online video platform, by age group, 2023 vs 2024
- Graph 16: shopping 1-3 times or more per week through social commerce, by age group, 2023 vs 2024
- High-income consumers are the main customers in short video ecommerce and drive growth
- Graph 17: shopping 1-3 times or more per week through an online video platform, by monthly personal income, 2023 vs 2024
- Great shopping potential on short video platforms is seen in non-Tier 1 cities
- Graph 18: using short video apps daily, by city tier, 2022-24
- Graph 19: shopping frequency on short video platforms, by city tier, 2024
- ‘Buy now, get now’ online shopping appeals to men under 30 and women above 30
- Graph 20: have bought something on delivery platforms* in the last six months, by gender and age, 2023 vs 2024
- Factors important to consumers when shopping online and their perceptions of platforms
- Consumers are not fixated on low prices, as quality continues to dominate
- Graph 21: the most important aspects when shopping online , 2022 vs 2024
- Online shopping is part of quality living for mature consumers, as they expect to conveniently enjoy a wide range of high-quality products
- Graph 22: selected aspects that consumers find the most important when shopping online, by age group, 2024
- High-income online shoppers focus on the hard criteria, while the middle-income group needs rich and accurate information to guide their purchasing decisions
- Graph 23: selected aspects that consumers find the most important when shopping online, by monthly personal income, 2024
- Mainstream shopping platforms still show differentiated competitiveness
- Graph 24: perception of mainstream shopping platforms, 2024
- The recognition of quality assurance, logistics services and content marketing on Tmall has improved, but there is still a need to strengthen quality assurance and enhance the perception of value for money.
- Graph 25: perception of Tmall, 2022-24
- JD.com continues to exceed consumer expectations in logistics services
- Graph 26: perception of JD.com, 2022-24
- Pinduoduo is still predominantly known for its excellent value for money, and consumer recognition of its quality and logistics has significantly improved
- Graph 27: perception of Pinduoduo, 2022-24
- Douyin benefits from a strong content advantage which its ecommerce infrastructure must also keep up with
- Graph 28: perception of Douyin, 2022-24
- Purchases and motivations to purchase from ecommerce private label brands
- The penetration rate of private labels in ecommerce needs to be improved, and enhancing product strength and platform influence is key to increasing acceptance
- Graph 29: factors for buying from ecommerce private labels, 2024
- Graph 30: ecommerce private labels bought from in the last six months , 2024
- Enhancing platform influence and expanding product coverage can help ecommerce private-label brands penetrate more consumers
- High spending power consumers embrace ecommerce private-label brands
- Graph 31: purchasing factors for ecommerce private-label brands, by monthly personal income, 2024
- Graph 32: ecommerce private labels bought from in the last six months , by monthly personal income, 2024
- Tier 1 city consumers have a high acceptance of ecommerce private labels
- Graph 33: ecommerce private labels bought from in the last six months, by city tier, 2024
- Graph 34: purchasing factors for ecommerce private-label brands, by city tier, 2024
- JD Jing Zao and NetEase Selected rely on platform influence, while East Buy targets the cultural positioning to lock in the mid-to-premium market, and Miaomanfen focuses on price-sensitive users
- Graph 35: purchasing factors for ecommerce private-label brands, by ecommerce private labels they bought products from, 2024
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Trends and opportunities
- Look for opportunities in consumption value
- 2024 Mintel Global Consumer Trends: More Than Money
- Find growth opportunities in consumers’ demand for ‘value’
- Quality budget-friendly products: deliver more than expected quality at no more than expected price
- Save time and effort: one-stop value-added services + concrete after-sales support
- Fun and heart-warming: playful and therapeutic content transforms commodity sales into psychological relief
- Interesting and content-rich: use mini-dramas to stand out quickly and mobilise a variety of users
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What we think
- Rebuild a positive and sustainable online business ecosystem around the demand for quality
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Appendix – methodology and abbreviations
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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