Female-oriented games are the new collaboration trend

“Otome game”, also known as the female-oriented game, is a type of romance simulation game originating from Japan. It typically features a female protagonist who engages in romantic storylines with male characters, though some games also include female characters as potential love interests.

Heytea, one of China’s largest bubble tea chains, collaborated with “Light and Night,” a popular dating-themed game targeting female players. This collaboration has proven to be Heytea’s most successful campaign this year:

• On opening day, stores in tier-1 cities had 800 to 1,000 orders waiting by mid-morning with 4 to 9 hours of waiting time
• Fans gathered in large numbers, many dressing up in costumes
• Some fans dressed up in wedding attire and waited in line for hours to take photos with a life-sized cutout, complete with “marriage certificates“

Anime Goods help to revitalize offline shopping

The term “Guzi” (谷子) is derived from the English word “goods.” It refers to merchandise related to manga, anime, games, and idols. Specifically, it includes items like badges, standees, keychains, posters, dolls, and decorative items with anime or game character themes.

The Shanghai collaborative pop-up store between Chinese discount retailer Miniso and Japanese manga and anime series Chiikawa sold CNY2.7 million (USD370,000) of goods in 10 hours on opening day.  On Xiaohongshu, people said that it was common that they needed to wait in line for 1 hour to get into the shop.

Meanwhile, Xi’an Intime Mall successfully held promotional events with many cosplayers in Anya’s signature look. Anya Forger is from the popular anime series “Spy × Family”. The iconic look is matching pink wigs, black dresses adorned with gold trim, and black shoes.

The event attracted crowds who were actively taking photos and videos. User-generated content went viral online, bringing huge foot traffic to Xi’an Intime Mall. The Mall has become famous for catering to anime enthusiasts. Many people take Xi’an Intime Mall as a popular destination similar to Akihabara in Tokyo.

Brands that embrace anime culture can help to revitalize traditional retail spaces. Stores selling anime merchandise attract significant foot traffic, transforming struggling malls into bustling shopping destinations.

In Conclusion

Brands should put more effort into understanding and respect when collaborating with anime culture to succeed. Heytea exemplified this by introducing characters in order of their appearance and training staff to fully know each game’s characters’ backgrounds.

The key to successful collaborations lies in the brand’s attitude. Audiences value respectful and sincere engagement. When anime players perceive a brand’s genuine effort, they are more likely to support and purchase from it.

The post Brands are Embracing Anime Culture in China appeared first on WalkTheChat.

Chinese New Year marketing engagements include both brand and organic content.

Luxury Sector Chinese New Year Marketing Summary Insights 

1. The presence of offline artistic installations have increased significantly compared to last year during this Chinese New Year marketing season, indicating a more substantial investment in physical presence and engagement.
2. Online interactions, especially through WeChat H5 games, have become more prevalent, with innovative red envelope (red packet) mechanisms being introduced to engage consumers.
3. Marketing efforts have become more localized, as evidenced by the use of Chinese New Year-themed short films, which resonate more deeply with the local culture and traditions.
4. There’s a noticeable reduction in collaborations with IP characters, particularly compared to those related to the Year of the Rabbit, likely due to the significant differences between Chinese and Western interpretations of dragons, which often spark discussions.
5. Some brands have opted not to use dragon imagery in their campaigns, a departure from the previous year where rabbit motifs took dominance in Chinese New Year marketing campaigns and products.
6. A deeper exploration of traditional Chinese culture beyond the obvious symbols like dragons and the color red

Offline artistic installations

The recent Chinese New Year marketing campaigns by luxury brands have showcased a significant uptick in the deployment of offline artistic installations, a testament to the brands’ heightened commitment to immersive customer experiences. This year, the venerable Louis Vuitton orchestrated an ephemeral pop-up space for its Spring/Summer 2024 Menswear collection in Shanghai and Beijing, drawing inspiration from the sun element—a central motif of Pharrell’s debut series as the brand’s Men’s Creative Director. This thematic choice reflected in the collection’s warm hues and ornamental luminosity was brought to life through these physical spaces, reinforcing the connection between the brand’s aesthetic narrative and its architectural manifestations.

Simultaneously, Louis Vuitton’s home in Chengdu’s Taikoo Li presented an even more eye-catching installation for the Year of the Dragon. Set against the backdrop of the millennial Daci Temple with its two standalone buildings and an open courtyard, the installation featured a commanding dragon that encapsulated the charm of the “Land of Abundance,” resonating with both cultural significance and contemporary relevance.

Moreover, Italian luxury brand Fendi seized the festive period as an opportunity to launch a collaboration featuring the iconic Pokémon franchise and Japanese streetwear designer Hiroshi Fujiwara’s Fragment. The Fendi x Fragment x Pokémon collection integrated beloved dragon-themed characters from Pokémon with Fendi’s highly recognizable Peekaboo and Baguette bag designs, merging them with the classic FF motif. This creative synergy was celebrated with a unique flash store in the East Square of Chengdu’s Taikoo Li, showcasing the innovative interplay between iconic brand symbols and pop culture elements.

These installations exemplify how luxury brands are increasingly investing in elaborate, tangible art pieces to elevate their in-person engagement, crafting an intertwined narrative of tradition and modernity that not only captures the imagination but also creates distinctive, memorable experiences for consumers.

Evolving digital engagement and WeChat mini-programs

This Chinese New Year marketing season, luxury brands significantly leveraged WeChat mini-programs for heightened user interaction, offering exclusive red packet covers, wallpapers, and emoticons. Unlike the direct claim methods of previous years, more brands now require entry and registration via mini-programs, capturing valuable consumer data for future marketing endeavors (e.g., targeted SMS campaigns). The engagement strategies have evolved, incorporating keyword searches, link sharing, and interactive games to unlock exclusive content, enriching the user experience. WeChat’s latest module template enabled brands to integrate ads, lucky draws, and product promotions seamlessly, maximizing engagement.

Van Cleef & Arpels introduced a Chinese New Year marketing interaction that included dragon-themed emoticon packs, the collection of lucky wallpapers (with a chance to win a hidden red packet cover upon gathering all four designs), and a new year avatar update feature (where users could upload their portrait to generate a themed avatar).

In terms of private domain marketing, after retaining user information, luxury brands like Balenciaga are sending text messages to users, increasing consumer touchpoints.

Other brands, such as Hermès, utilized the limited edition red packet covers as a tool for sales associates (SAs) to connect with clients, with SAs sending them directly to customers via private messages.

This approach not only enhanced direct engagement but also leveraged personalized communication to strengthen brand loyalty and consumer relationships.

Localized storytelling in New Year campaigns

This year, luxury brands have continued the tradition of crafting New Year campaign films, focusing on themes of “hope and expectations,” “prospects and the future,” and “identity,” particularly addressing the existential concerns of contemporary youth. Post-pandemic, these narratives extend beyond the timeless New Year themes of “homecoming” and “reunion dinners,” aiming to resonate emotionally through localized storytelling that simplifies complexity, showcasing respect and sincerity towards cultural nuances.

Bottega Veneta’s “The First Sunrise with You” captures the essence of new beginnings and the relentless pursuit of life’s journeys through the lens of traditional reunion themes, interwoven with the anticipation of dawn’s first light. This narrative not only aligns with the cultural significance of greeting the New Year but also addresses the aspirations and anxieties of modern Chinese society, showcasing a deep respect and understanding of local sentiments.

Though not a luxury fashion brand, Ganni’s campaign, inspired by the traditional “dragon boating,” is a noteworthy one. It connects with Chinese cultural heritage while highlighting themes of female empowerment and collective strength. By depicting athletes overcoming limitations through unity and determination, the campaign resonates with the contemporary Chinese values of resilience and community, reflecting the brand’s commitment to embracing and honoring Chinese traditions and the evolving identity of its people.

Declining IP collaborations and cultural interpretation challenges

In the Year of the Rabbit, fashion brand marketing frequently featured collaborations with designers and iconic cartoon characters, such as Coach x White Rabbit, Chloé x My Melody, Givenchy x Lucky Rabbit Ozwald, and Moncler x Roger Rabbit. This year, however, there’s been a noticeable decrease in such IP collaborations. Even those that have launched face scrutiny, particularly regarding their relevance to the “Chinese Dragon.”

Dior’s partnership with Japanese contemporary artist Otani Workshop produced a green monster TANILLA. Upon release, many criticized it for not representing the “Chinese Dragon,” with feedback ranging from its appearance being “ugly” and “abstract” to outright “ghastly.”

Products featuring this design, including jackets with a burnt color effect, prints that obscure the face, and dragon scarves with an unclear motif, have been particularly disparaged. Some netizens dubbed the design as a “zombie dragon,” neither festive nor auspicious, predicting it to quickly become discounted stock.

This backlash underscores the unique emotional connection Chinese people have with zodiac symbols, expecting the Chinese dragon to embody power and protection, not the characteristics of a “dinosaur” or a “European-style evil dragon.” This mismatch in cultural expectations likely contributed to the reduced number of IP collaborations this year, as brands aim to avoid controversy and more deeply respect traditional Chinese sentiments.

Creative approaches beyond literal dragon imagery

This year, in contrast to the rabbit-themed marketing saturating last year’s campaigns, several brands have strategically refrained from directly incorporating dragon imagery into their Chinese New Year products. Seeking a more creative and thematic approach to zodiac marketing for the Year of the Dragon, these brands have found innovative ways to honor the dragon theme without resorting to explicit depictions.

Bottega Veneta utilized its sophisticated weaving techniques to mimic dragon spines and scales, subtly celebrating dragon culture through craftsmanship rather than literal representation.

Givenchy, in collaboration with Juanzong Bookstore, released the 2024 Dragon Scale Scroll, drawing upon the classical Chinese bookbinding method known as dragon scale binding, named for its pages that fan out resembling dragon scales.

Loewe tapped into the Chinese appreciation for jade and its symbolic meanings. The brand commissioned jade carving masters to create three limited-edition jade pendants. Additionally, each jade-color-inspired Flamenco Mini clutch bag comes with a special pouch containing a jade piece in a matching color, symbolizing good fortune for the new year.

Cosmetics Industry Chinese New Year Marketing Ranking

Compared to 2023 Chinese New Year marketing, most international brand rankings for Chinese New Year do not show big changes. Young cosmetic brands have exhibited remarkable growth, including brands like TIMAGE, First Impression, and JUDYDOLL. The rankings for established brands such as Chanel, Dior, and Giorgio Armani show relatively stable positions with minimal changes.

There is a dynamic and rapidly growing market for brands that are relatively young in the market, which are becoming increasingly competitive and are resonating more with local consumers.

Douyin’s cosmetics sales are growing at a strong rate, with a 111% GMV growth in Jan 2024. Comparatively, Tmall’s cosmetics category has a 12% decrease during the same time, showing that it is losing traction to Douyin.

Shu Uemura plays with Nostalgia Marketing and cultural alignment

In the Chinese New Year marketing campaign by Shu Uemura, contrasting outcomes from collaborations with two distinct celebrities highlight an important strategic consideration. The brand’s engagement with Wang Yibo, a prominent figure with substantial influence among younger audiences, indeed generated significant short-term traffic. However, this approach, often characterized by hefty endorsement costs, may not ensure a sustained interest in the brand itself, as the followers are typically more celebrity-driven rather than brand-loyal.

Conversely, the partnership with Carman Lee (李若彤) tapped into a more profound cultural and nostalgic vein. She is an actress revered for her portrayal of Xiaolongnü, the ethereal ‘Dragon Girl’ from the famed ’90s TV series “The Return of the Condor Heroes”.

Her association with the character Dragon Girl deeply rooted in the cultural fabric, presented an authentic alignment with the brand’s campaign theme, resulting in higher engagement and bookmarking figures. The Little Red Book post featuring her got over 7000 engagements with a much higher comment rate and bookmark rate compared to that of Wang Yibo. This suggests a more enduring connection with consumers. Carman Lee’s influence comes at a likely lower cost, yet it appears to resonate on a more substantial level, potentially leading to a lasting affinity with the brand beyond the campaign’s run.

With a 12% annual decline in China’s cosmetics sales in 2023, the reliance on tier 1 celebrities for quick traffic surges might not be the most prudent financial commitment. Brands should consider a balanced approach that combines the widespread reach of popular figures with influencers who have a more resonant cultural or niche appeal. This dual strategy could optimize marketing budgets while fostering a deeper and more sustainable relationship with consumers, steering clear of transient trends and instead building a loyal customer base rooted in shared values and cultural relevance.

Conclusion

Luxury brands have adeptly navigated the festive Chinese New Year marketing period, unveiling a blend of innovative physical and digital marketing strategies. By emphasizing offline artistic installations, alongside the smart use of WeChat mini-programs for interactive digital engagement, brands have created immersive experiences that establish multi-touchpoints with consumers. Coupled with a shift towards localized storytelling and creative interpretations of zodiac themes, luxury brands show commitment to marrying tradition with modernity, ensuring cultural relevance and fostering deeper consumer connections without leaning on explicit or potentially culturally insensitive imagery.

In the cosmetics industry’s Chinese New Year marketing, a notable shift favoring Douyin’s digital platform. The remarkable growth of brands like TIMAGE and Douyin’s 111% sales increase underscore the changing consumer dynamics. Additionally, Shu Uemura’s nostalgia-driven campaign with Carman Lee highlights the power of culturally resonant marketing.

Overall, Chinese New Year marketing reveals a sophisticated interplay between tradition and innovation across the luxury and cosmetics industries. By integrating artistic installations and digital interactivity, embracing localized and culturally nuanced content, and strategically leveraging nostalgia and celebrity influence, brands have demonstrated a nuanced understanding of the Chinese market, setting a precedent for future marketing strategies that prioritize cultural sensitivity, creativity, and authentic connections, ensuring the continued relevance and appeal of luxury brands in a rapidly evolving consumer landscape.

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WalktheChat is an AI-powered China Marketing Agency supercharged with an industry-leading AIGC and tech team.

Follow us on LinkedIn for more news and insight about China’s digital marketing and luxury landscape.

More reports available upon request.

Contact us at: info@walkthechat.com

The post Chinese New Year Marketing: Luxury and Cosmetic Brands Are Redefining Strategies for the Modern Chinese Consumer appeared first on WalkTheChat.

Summary Insights 

• 60% of Douyin transactions in the fashion sector potentially take place off the Douyin platform. Making an omnichannel strategy for Douyin crucial for 2024

• Douyin’s “Omnichannel Measurement” tool allows for real-time tracking of the potential transaction out of the platform, enhancing both online and offline sales.

• Brand Douyin livestreaming is growing in popularity, driving a larger share of total sales with high-value brands seeing substantial success.

• Advertising and supportive platform policies have led to increased traffic and higher conversion rates for brand Douyin livestreaming.

Fashion Marketing Campaign on Douyin may drive 60% of potential transactions out of the platform 

Douyin launched “Omnichannel Measurement” to monitor the contribution of Douyin marketing to all channel e-commerce conversions and offline business.

The Omnichannel Measurement solution from Ocean Engine( Douyin Ads platform) employs two sophisticated algorithm models: MTA (Multiple Touchpoint Attribution) and MMM (Marketing Mix Model). It enables brands to view results on daily basis, facilitating real-time adjustments to budget allocation and campaign strategies.

Among the 500 reports generated by brands, current data indicates that, on average, 39% of transactions occur outside the Douyin platform,  though this rate varies widely by industry. The clothes and accessories sector leads with the highest rate at 60%, followed by the healthcare industry at 46%.

From QuestMobile, during the Double 11 Festival, Douyin contributed 7.4% of traffic to Taobao and 5.6% to JD, more than RED, Weibo and Kuaishou.

Zara initiated a quite luxury style Douyin livestraming

Zara leads the charge among high-end retailers in embracing a ‘quiet luxury’ style of livestreaming on Douyin, breaking away from the traditional, bustling online sales chatter. Their approach is refreshingly direct and understated, showcasing collections in a manner that mirrors the exclusivity of a private fashion show.

This strategic pivot positions Zara not just as a trendsetter in fashion, but also in digital marketing, offering a refined blueprint for other premium brands to engage with audiences without diluting their brand’s cachet. Zara’s initiative is a significant stride forward, signaling a shift towards a more sophisticated, brand-centric livestream experience that could redefine the future of luxury brand engagement on social platforms.

The 1st show attracted 1.2 million views and 267 thousand interactions, 10 times more engagement than before. The average views of  Zara Brand Livesteams reached 560,000 after the update,  marking a 180% growth from the previous.

Up until 2024 Jan, Zara had:

• 181 Official live-streamings in total
• Accumulated 460 thousand followers
• The estimated annual GMV from Official live-streaming exceeded 40 million RMB

Zara’s success shows that a tailored approach, focusing on engaging content over direct sales, is essential to generate buzz and build brand presence on Douyin.

Other brands such as Ralph Lauren also hosted their Spring Summer 2024 show on Douyin. However, this show didn’t quite capture the same level of engagement as Zara’s meticulously Douyin-tailored presentation, they only got 488k views.

Ralph Lauren’s fashion show livestreaming show on Douyin didn’t spark the same excitement as Zara’s, highlighting a crucial point for luxury branding on the platform: it’s not the replication of a fashion show that draws the Douyin crowd, but the creative and platform-specific entertainment value. The key for luxury brands is to design experiences that marry their brand story with the interactive and visually rich format that Douyin users love.

Brand Douyin Livestreaming increased stably 

Brand official Douyin live streaming continued to gain momentum. The proportion of GMV attributed to brand-official Douyin livestreaming saw a continuous increase, from 25% to 33% in 2023.

High-value brands, in particular, found substantial success with this approach. More affordable luxury brands joined  Douyin’s e-commerce last year. Their brand livestream-generated GMV makes up more than 50% of their total Douyin sales, and the average value per order exceeds 1,000 RMB.

Lululemon focused on using Douyin as a new product launch platform 

Since 2024, Lululemon has adopted a strategy of featuring new and limited-edition products in their Douyin livestreams. In contrast to their Tmall store, which mainly promotes classic items, three of the top-selling products in the Douyin store are new releases for 2024 Spring Festival. 

Lululemon also enhances new product promotion by inviting professional sports influencers to their livestreams, using expert fitness advice to attract consumer attention, enrich livestream content, and increase the efficiency of new product launches.

Brand Douyin livestreaming can get extra traffic from Douyin easily by completing certain tasks. Douyin’s supportive policies for brand-led livestreaming have proven effective.

Compared 2023H1 with 2022H1, sales per thousand views in influencer-led Douyin livestreaming saw a 15% year-on-year decline, with average conversion rates dropping by 30.5%, and only a marginal 0.6% increase in the average value per order.

In contrast, official Douyin live-streaming experienced a 17.6% rise in sales per thousand views, with a significant 39.9% increase in the average value per order. This indicates that official Douyin live streaming tends to secure higher average order value.​​

Top affordable luxury brands like Lululemon can capitalize on brand Douyin livestreams to initially boost sales. Smaller or medium-sized brands may benefit from utilizing KOL livestreams to enhance brand image and sales at the beginning. 

Annually, Fabrique partners with over 70 KOL livestreams, yielding a GMV of 40 million RMB. Initially, these KOL collaborations accounted for 60% of total Douyin sales. In their second year, through ongoing refinement of their official livestreams, more frequent live-streaming, a growing follower base, and increased advertising spending, their official livestream GMV soared from 15 million to about 80 million RMB, comprising 56% of their Douyin sales.

Brand Douyin Livestreaming highly relies on ads to boost traffic

For brands venturing into Douyin’s e-commerce platform, advertising plays a key role in driving traffic during the initial stages. For instance, an outdoor sports brand reported that around 30% of its live-streaming traffic came from paid ads.

By analyzing a typical week of advertising data, it’s clear that by significantly boosting paid traffic to their brand Douyin live-streaming, the brand achieved a 262% rise in GMV. The substantial influence of paid traffic on the brand’s official Douyin livestream performance is apparent.

Meanwhile, the impact of paid traffic from Douyin on organic traffic is quite pronounced. After increasing paid traffic, organic traffic has more than doubled, significantly boosting the potential for more in-store visits and conversions during Douyin livestreamings.

While advertising-driven traffic to brand Douyin livestreams can notably increase sales in the short term, the long-term acquisition costs for new customers may rise. Brands should also prioritize converting public traffic into their own channels. To foster brand loyalty and improve repeat purchase rates, brands can utilize options like followers’ groups, Official Apps, and membership systems.

Conclusion

To succeed on Douyin, brands are leveraging official livestreaming for rapid sales growth, as seen with affordable luxury brands. While ads can boost short-term sales, converting public traffic to owned channels is key. Following Zara’s example, more brands recognize livestreaming’s power in boosting brand image. Tools like “Omnichannel Measurement” help track off-platform transactions, enabling smarter marketing budget allocation for top brands.

Douyin Live-Streaming and case studies: a brand marketing guide

Douyin Zibo (自播), AKA Douyin live-streaming hosted by the brand, is a trending marketing method in China.

In Feb 2022, 50% of the total Douyin sales of the top 500 brands came from the brand’s own official live-streaming.

During the 618 e-commerce holiday in 2022, a total of 25 brands’ official Douyin live-streaming reached over 100 million RMB in sales. The top brands include Xiaomi, Adidas, Estee Lauder, Apple, and Nike. 

Also, brands’ official live-streaming represented 57.7% of the total Douyin e-commerce live-streaming time on June 18th, 2021 (the rest was live-streaming by influencers), according to East Money.

To break down the Douyin live-stream strategy, we will cover:

• What’s brand Douyin live-streaming
• How to optimize Douyin Live-streaming 
• Should brands invest in Douyin live-streaming?
• Case study

What’s brand live-streaming?

Brand live-streaming is a live-streaming session hosted by the brand’s official account (and not by a 3rd party influencer).

Dedicated account just for live-streaming 

Many brands choose to set up different Douyin accounts specifically for live streaming. For example, Adidas has over 4 live-streaming accounts for different audience groups: the flagship store, women, kids, and distributor stores. 

The content on those live-streaming accounts is simple and short clips from live-streaming. Most editing is just to add background music and Douyin effects. 

Such content positioning is very different from Adidas’ main official account, which only shares high-budget creative content.

Hours-long

Lots of these live-streaming accounts run on insane live-streaming hours of over 15 hours per day. Usually, the live-streaming has one host, often a female, selling over 50 discounted products. 

Despite this time commitment, the viewer count (the number of viewers watching the live video at one time) is extremely low. Even for the top 500 Douyin brands, the average viewer count is often below 100. This would accumulate over 100k daily viewers in total.

Compared to the viewer amount, the sales result is impressive. For example, Under Armour’s max viewer count could be 100, with a total of 100k daily views, and the daily sales could reach over 300k RMB. Douyin users tend to make quick and impulse purchases during live streams.

Pricing is lower than Tmall

Below brands are from the top 100 best-performing Douyin stores. Comparing the average product price in Douyin and Tmall flagship stores, the pricing on Douyin is around 10-20% lower.

Higher pricing on Tmall could be a result of Tmall users’ stronger purchasing power. Usually, Tmall users have a stronger purchasing intent, while Douyin users have a stronger need for entertainment.

Adidas is one of the top 5 Douyin stores. Its price on Tmall is 17% higher than Douyin throughout the year. The difference reaches over 100 RMB from January to April.

A stronger focus on Douyin during the non-event period

The focus of Douyin marketing and live-streaming should be during the non-event period. Douyin sales tend to remain relatively stable or even drop during large Tmall events such as Double 11 and 618. The sales gap usually closes before and after the event period.

Brands can focus on driving traffic to Tmall and setting relatively competitive prices during the event periods.

According to the above stats, Douyin already reached 39% of Tmall’s net sales. But the Tmall net sale might be underestimated. Tmall officially claim to have 8,100 million RMB in GMV in 2022, and Douyin officially claimed only 730 million RMB GMV in 2021, less than 10% of Tmall’s. But it’s clear that Douyin’s e-commerce continues growing and the gap between Tmall and Douyin is closing.

How to optimize Douyin Live-streaming 

Focus on the hero product 

Just like the hero product strategy on Tmall, Douyin also emphasizes the top-selling products. Over 20% of sales are from the 3 top-selling items. Many brands even have over 50% of total sales from the top items. This is significant since many brands have over 100 products listed. For example, Erke (a Chinese sports brand) has 890 products, and Under Armour has over 300 products.

Think of live-streaming as the last step of Douyin conversion funnel 

Live streaming does not work alone, it’s the end of the conversion funnel. 

The top of the funnel is the source of the traffic. Traffic comes from display ads, content, and organic live-streaming traffic from Douyin.

According to Newrank, the source traffic from a brand’s own live-streaming when first starting live-streaming could be broken down according to categories: 

The more a brand relies on brand awareness, the more it needs to run advertising to kick-start the traffic.

Use content to generate traffic to your live-streaming account 

Quantity over quality when it comes to driving traffic to the brand’s own live-streaming. The Douyin algorithm made content performance unpredictable, thus posting more is a safer bet to generate more traffic. 

Brands with over 500k Douyin followers, tend to create a separate account just for live streaming. These accounts’ has very promotional content, very different from the usual concept video a brand would produce with a bigger budget. These are just short clips from the live streaming. Often using the same editing template, music, and special effects to make it simple to produce. Most brands post over 10 videos per day to drive traffic to live streamings.

For most brands with less than 500k followers, a brand can simply use the same account to set up Douyin live-streaming. In this case, the content still needs to be creative, and on-brand. The brand could post less frequently.

Below is the type of content Lola Rose, a 1,000-2,000 RMB jewelry brand, generates on Douyin. It’s just 2 pictures with simple background music. Easy to produce in bulk. This video got around 100 engagements on Douyin. The same video asset could also be used on the brand’s Tmall store.

Another type of content strategy is to post less frequently but rely on display ads to generate traffic. Premium brands with large budgets and restricted content requirements usually do so.

Discounts and user engagement

Engagements and purchase actions will boost the organic traffic to a live-streams.

Charlotte Tibury’s team set up 1-2 lucky draws for a 200 RMB product during every live-streaming. To participate, viewers will need to pay 0.1 RMB to join the Fan club and add a comment. These are small but effective actions that will trick the Douyin algorithm to bring even more traffic. The host will decide when to release the lucky draw result, thus encouraging viewers to stay longer to wait for the result.

Douyin has many other features to encourage users to spend time on live streamings, such as limited products, time-sensitive coupons, small giveaways, and comment-lucky draws.

Participate in Douyin events to gain traffic

Same to Tmall, Douyin also has its own event schedule for the e-commerce holidays. Participating in the official events will gain traffic to the store.

Set the price lower than Tmall

Brands can use tactics such as different hero products, gift-with-purchase, or even develop Douyin-specific SKUs to set up a lower pricing strategy for Douyin. In general, many brands would price 10-20% cheaper on Douyin than Tmall.

Gift-with-purchase

Some brands use gift-with-purchase to set different pricing while avoiding users directly comparing prices across Douyin and Tmall.

Perfect Diary promotes the lip gloss set during flagship store live-streaming and sets the price 31% lower than Tmall. Gift-with-purchase is able to justify the pricing differently and avoid a direct price comparison.

Douyin-specific product

Some brands also develop Douyin-specific SKUs to offer a cheaper pricing product in Douyin, while avoiding direct competition with Tmall.

Should brands invest in Douyin live-streaming?

Despite the impressive aggregated sales result, most brands still struggle to manage their own Douyin live streaming.

High upfront cost

The upfront investment is huge:

• Over 10 hours of daily live-streaming
• An operation team to assist with content posting, promotion, ads, and technical support through daily operation
• A great salesperson as the live-streaming host who also needs to match the brand’s style
• Supply chain system to support the surge of demand during peak periods
• Deal with excess inventory when performance is below forecast

Traffic concentrates on top brands

Another barrier to entry is the current live-streaming sales are extremely concentrated on top-tier brands. Xiaomi, Florias (Chinese cosmetics startup), and Adidas are among the best-performing brands on Douyin. These brands already have over 9 million Douyin followers and the monthly sales from brand live-streaming are over 50 million RMB.

The 2nd tier of brands with strong distribution channels and high brand awareness in all tier cities in China. These brands usually have over 1 million followers on Douyin and have 10-30 million monthly Douyin live-streaming sales. For example, brands such as Lancôme, COACH, Erke (Chinese sports brand), and Fila.

Most good-performing brands fall under the 3rd tier, with 100-500k Douyin followers and live-streaming sales of 1-2.5 million RMB per month. The majority are Chinese brands with average pricing under 300 RMB. Some premium brands in this category that stands out are Charlotte Tilbury and Amazing Song (Chinese startup bag brand), both with average live-streaming price above 500 RMB.

The brands above are all from the top 200 best-performing Douyin store brands in their category. Over 95% of these 200 brands are Chinese brands. Many sell commodity products with little brand awareness. The majority of brands still do not run their own live-streaming or generate any sales from it.

For most SME and mid-tier brands, live-streaming will bring low ROI during the first year. Instead, working with influencers who already have strong followers is a much cheaper way to gain short-term sales and build initial traffic on their own accounts.

Case studies

Under Armour

Under Armour has 24 Douyin accounts, 6 of which run daily live streamings: 3 are official accounts (the flagship account, Under Armour Women, Under Armour Kids), and the other 3 belong to distributors.

Lots of similar content

The Under Armour flagship store posts 20 videos per day. These videos are just video clips from the live-streaming events. All the content uses the same editing template, some don’t have any editing at all. These videos usually got less than 10 engagements, and the purpose of repetitive posting in large quantity is to show up on the user’s feed and drive traffic to the brand’s live-streaming event.

Under Amour’s Douyin live-streaming is on 16 hours per day. It has a 237 average viewer count (the number of viewers watching your live video at one time), and 105k total viewers per live streaming. In February, the top performance show brought 1.3 million RMB sales, and a total of 19.9 million RMB monthly GMV, according to New Rank.

The live-streaming script is similar to Tmall

The live-streaming script is very similar between Douyin and Tmall. Both hosts encourage users to join the member club, claim additional coupons and encourage impulse purchases. Douyin’s host spoke a bit faster and is more enthusiastic about sharing the product. Tmall’s host tends to engage with user comments a bit more.

The hero product is cheaper than Tmall

The 3 top-selling products in the Tmall flagship store and the Douyin flagship store are different, but the price range is similar.

Hero product also gets brand would put a lot of emphasis during the live-streaming. For example, the top-selling men’s jacket was appears 30 times during every Douyin live-streamings in January 2023.

Douyin has a slightly higher pricing hero product in the men’s jacket category, 60 RMB more expensive than the hero product on Tmall. However, if we compare the same product, the Douyin flagship store’s pricing is significantly lower than Tmall.

Brands that want to better control pricing in multiple channels, could consider develop up platform-specific SKUs. Under Amour’s hero product, the ColdGear React jacket is only sold on Douyin. This way even when users find out a similar jacket on Tmall is sold for 300 more, they won’t be too angry due to the slight design difference.

Most Douyin sales are from the official account, and Douyin sales are strong during non-Tmall-event periods Douyin sales

Unter Armour sold 19.9 million RMB during Jan 2023 via the brand Douyin live-stream according to New Ranks. This is the majority revenue source for Douyin sales. And KOL live-streaming and sales only take 29% of total Douyin sales.

In comparison to Tmall, Douyin’s sales are very strong during the non-even period, especially before the event. In October, Douyin sales even exceeds Tmall’s.

Having Tmall and Douyin sales compared side by side definitely shows the strong sales position of the Douyin channel. Overall, Douyin’s sales take 21.6% of total Douyin and Tmall sales.

Conclusion

Douyin brand live-streaming is growing very strong with a strong concentration on the top tier brands. Douyin’s product pricing strategy should be lower than Tmall, and investment could focus on non-Tmall event periods. The up-front investment is high for most brands. Brands need to focus on content creation and ads to kick-start. Premium brands with less than 100k Douyin followers could hold off on launching their own live-streaming and focus on working with KOL to build initial momentum.

The post 3 Douyin Livestreaming Trends in 2024 appeared first on WalkTheChat.

Douyin (the Chinese Tiktok) eCommerce analyzed platform data and published the Top 10 lifestyle trends related to fashion, environmental protection, health, technology, and culture. The keywords are:

• Outdoor fashion
• Streetstyle fashion
• Comfortable homewear
• Sustainable fashion
• Workplace fashion
• Vintage style
• Hip-pop fashion
• Fitness fashion
• Niche fashion: ACG, Lolita & Hanfu

In this article, we will further explain:

• A few trends relevant for foreign brands in the Chinese market
• The high potential for sub-categories in fashion industry

Outdoor fashion: the spiritual haven with high potential

Tired of fast-paced city life and strict lockdowns, going outdoors becomes Chinese people’s spiritual haven to disconnect and seek inner peace. For example, 42.2% of Douyin users yearn for outdoor activities, including fishing, camping, hiking, surfing, etc.

However, unlike the traditional western concept of camping, in China, camping is an exquisite and artistic way of living. Most young people picture camping as reading a book over a cup of coffee or tea, living in “an “Instagram style” tent, barbecuing for dinner, and chatting with a few friends over the night. Besides enjoying nature, they also want to take “photogenic” pictures so here comes camping fashion.

Trend pursuing young people love sharing their outdoor looks, equipment, and experience on social media. The typical looks are urban outdoor, utility, or casual wear. Besides, people also look for functional clothes such as waterproof, sunproof, elastic, and breathable clothing to make outdoor staying more comfortable.

Currently, 130 million Chinese people participate in outdoor activities such as hiking and traveling every year, according to China Outdoor Association (COA). In 2020, the revenue of outdoor products reached 169.33 billion CNY (~24.35 billion USD), with a year-on-year increase of 6.4%. It is estimated that the revenue will reach 240.96 billion CNY (~34.65 billion USD) in 2025.

According to Douyin, outdoor fashion is an active market where consumers have shown high interest. Besides, there is sufficient supply with existing category leaders. Therefore, brands entering the Chinese market need to deep dive into consumers’ needs and establish a solid positioning in their strong category.

Comfortable homewear: quality time spent alone

In China, there are 240 million single people of marriageable age; 1/4 of the households consist of only one person. The data means that entering a relationship or getting married is no longer a “must-do” for young Chinese people. Instead, they care more for a quality lifestyle while staying at home and enjoying time with themselves. 27.4% of Douyin users choose to spend their free time at home on weekends.

Deloitte’s 2021 Unconnected Economic Outlook Report estimates that the “stay at home” market in Asia-Pacific will grow from $1.2 trillion in 2019 to $3 trillion in 2025. In addition, as the work-from-home culture becomes popular, the demand for leisure homewear, fashion homewear, or even homewear with “business leisure” style has become a new fashion.

Sustainable fashion trends: rational and responsible purchase

Chinese people are willing to incorporate the concept of sustainability into fashion. For example, whether a fashion item can mix and match multiple items; whether the fabric is natural and reduceable, etc. As consumers become more rational and responsible, minimalistic and reusable fashion items could be the next growing trend.

Research data shows that 29.9% of users on Douyin pay continuous attention to environmental protection. Among these environmentalists, 83.8% agree with rational consumption, only buying products they really need and good quality; 58.0% prefer items that are more environmentally friendly during the production phase; 43.3% will purchase clothes and bags with a good design using sustainable or reducible fabrics. Therefore, growing public awareness of environmental protection makes sustainable fashion a new trend in apparel consumption.

Since 2021, embracing sustainability has become the consensus for women’s and men’s apparel industries. Brands incorporated low carbon production, using natural, harmless and recyclable fabrics.

Are Chinese consumers willing to pay an extra markup for sustainability? It will still take some time to see the market reaction. Sustainable fashion is still a niche market compared to the rest sub-categories. Brands in this category need to work with KOLs to generate content, and create topics and discussions.

Vintage fashion trends: 80s style, Y2K has come back

Chinese Gen-Zs love vintage style with a modern twist. For example, “Sweet Hot” Style, 80s Style, and Y2K are among the hottest trends. In recent years, Sweet Cool Girl styles have grown popularity thanks to various pop girl groups and KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders).

Sportswear fashion trends: health is the new luxury

The pandemic convinced everyone of the importance of health and regular workout. For example, the same research shows that 45.2% of Douyin users exercise to stay fit and healthy.

The choice of sportswear is also important. Among fitness lovers, 80.5% believe the most crucial feature of fitness clothing is comfortable, followed by quality/price ratio and functionality.

Euromonitor data shows that the compound growth rate of sales in China’s sportswear industry from 2015 to 2020 is 14%, higher than that of other consumer goods sub-sectors. The overall sales of China’s fitness apparel market have reached 315 billion CNY (~45.28 billion USD) by 2020.

According to Douyin, Chinese consumers have shown great interest in short video content, but the eCommerce supply hasn’t fulfilled the demands. Now it’s a great opportunity for foreign fitness brands to explore this giant market.

Check out the fashion trends on Red (Xiaohongshu), the Chinese “equivalent” of Instagram:

• RED (Xiaohongshu) Trends 2022: emerging trends in Fitness, Fashion & Beauty

Looking for more practical information? You will find these articles helpful:

• How Fashion Brands Leverage Red/Xiaohongshu: Content, KOLs, and case study

Wondering what the best market entry strategy for your brand is? Just fill in the 1-minute form below, and we will be in touch with you!

The post 10 Fashion Trends in China: Where is the opportunity? appeared first on WalkTheChat.

In this article, we will look at:

• Overview of Livestream eCommerce in 2021
• Taobao Livestream overview, top performing categories, audience insights, etc
• Douyin Livestream overview, audience insight, and Douyin eCommerce

Overview of China Livestream eCommerce in 2021

• 930 million Chinese people watch short videos, expanding with an annual growth rate of 7.0%
• 840 million Chinese consumers purchase online, growing by 7.6% compared to last year
• 700 million Chinese users watch live streams (68.2% of total Chinese Netizens), with a 14.0% annual growth rate
• Among the 700 million live stream viewers, 460 million have purchased through live streams (44.9% of Chinese Netizens).
• Livestream eCommerce audiences have grown by 75.70 million, with a 19.5% growth compared to 2020 December.

Watching Livestreams has become a habit for many Chinese people: some follow fitness trainer’s livestreams to work out daily; some listen to live streams to release stress and aid sleep…

Live stream contents are not always about sales. Actually, non-sales-oriented sessions can also drive solid sales conversion, as long as the influencers have helped cater to their audience’s needs and problems or provided emotional value to their followers. After building trust and authentic relationships, sales will follow.

Insights about Taobao Livestream eCommerce

Taobao Livestream Overview

As the biggest eCommerce marketplace, Taobao and Tmall have existing advantages over their competitors.

Taobao Livestream has accumulated over 50 billion views, making it the TOP1 platform for live stream eCommerce aiming at sales conversions.

In 2021, the average viewing time of Taobao Livestream increased by 25.8%. Watching Livestream e-commerce is becoming a part of everyday life for Chinese consumers.

Taobao Livestream TOP10 Verticals in terms of Revenue

In terms of Livestream revenue, the TOP10 verticals have significant similarities with Taobao and Tmall’s existing strong verticals:

1. Women Fashion
2. Beauty
3. Jewelry
4. Consumer Electronics
5. Food
6. Mom & Kids
7. Household Appliances
8. Home Renovation & Decor
9. Bags & Accessories
10. Footwear

Taobao Livestream Audience Preferences

• Gender: females and males have clearly different preferences in the types of Livestreams they watch. Females enjoy watching live streams regarding fashion, bags and accessories, shoes, beauty, and life. Males are more fond of livestream about cars, home renovation, consumer electronics, outdoor sports, and education.
• Age: Gen-Z (people born in the decades of the 1990s and 2000s) love watching Livestreams of beauty and fashion products. Chinese young people pursue individuality, so trendy items in fashion&beauty capture their attention. People born in the 1980s are more practical: live streams about education, mom&kids, cars, and lives look more interesting to them.

Insights about Douyin Livestream eCommerce

Douyin Livestream Overview

As the creator of the global short video trend, Douyin is naturally strong in video content and KOLs.

Douyin Livestream seems to have more diverse categories than Taobao Livestream, ranging from food, traveling, and workouts to traditional culture, music festivals, online courses, fashion shows, etc.

Douyin Livestream Audience Insights

People come to Douyin looking for entertainment. It’s also reflected in the popular Livestream categories. According to the 2021 Douyin Live Stream Ecological Report (CN), here are the most popular Livestream categories that people love to watch on Douyin:

• Gen-Z and Millenials love watching content about anime, gaming, reality shows, sports, dancing, travel, technology, etc.
• Elder generations have different types of interests and entertainment. Content about parenthood, education, politics, popular science, culture, etc captures their attention better.

Douyin eCommerce

Although Douyin content seems to have a stronger entertainment label, the platform has also shown a strong capacity to drive sales conversion. Thanks to Douyin Livestream and Douyin Store, the short video leader has created a closed loop for In-App conversion, from discovery, interest, to purchase.

According to the 2022 H1 Douyin eCommerce Industry Report (CN), Douyin eCommerce revenue has grown by 150% compared to last year. In addition, more than 300k brands have created Douyin Stores and are selling through Douyin eCommerce. Douyin eCommerce can be an efficient way to move sales, especially for cheaper products, typically less than 200 CNY (~30 USD).

Are you wondering how to leverage Chinese Livestream eCommerce and which platform to choose?

Just leave us a message below, and we will be in touch with you!

The post China Livestream eCommerce: Taobao and Douyin Insights appeared first on WalkTheChat.

During today’s article, we will discuss:

• What is the typical pet owner persona in China? 
• What are the new trends in Pet Economy in China?
• Our insight on international pet food & appliances brands

Typical Pet Owner Persona in China

Typical Chinese pet owners are well-educated with high incomes while young and have few years of experience owning pets.  

• Well-educated: more than 90% of the pet owners have a college degree; 9.5% have a master’s degree. According to the results of the seventh census, only 23.61% of China’s working-age population has a college degree or above. 
• High income: more than one-third (34.9%) of the pet owners have a monthly income of more than 10k CNY. This means a higher consumption capacity.  
• Young: 46.3% of pet owners were born after 1990, of which post-90s accounted for 23.4% and post-95s were 22.9%. In other words, among five pet owners, one is Gen Z.
• Few years of experience: 2% of pet owners have kept pets for less than 3 years, and 19% of them have had their first pets in the last year.

Our Insight

The Pet Economy in China is still in its infancy compared to matured markets such as Europe or the US. 

Chinese pet owners lack experience and professional knowledge about pet care. Like a Chinese parent looking to buy milk formula from foreign brands, Chinese pet owners tend to trust foreign pet food brands, believing they provide better quality. 

It’s a good moment for foreign brands specializing in pet food, pet appliances, and other related industries to consider China your next expansion destination. 

News Trends in China’s Pet Economy

Pet Economy Grows Faster than “Human Economy”

In Chinese cities, the entire urban dog and cat market size reached 249 billion CNY (~36.9 billion USD), a year-on-year increase of 20.6%, 8% higher than the total retail sales of consumer goods in 2021. This trend also shows that the pet economy has had a huge driving effect on the consumption of Chinese society.

Pets Become a Family Member

For Chinese people, pets used to be a playmate for the kid or house guards. However, in recent years, especially during the pandemic, more and more people realize the importance of a pet’s companion, consider pets as part of their family, and will treat their pets as their children. 
As a result, Chinese consumers pay more attention to the health and well-being of their pets and are willing to leverage technology and smart devices. For examples, healthy and customized pet food brand The Farmer’s Dog; intelligent cat litter basin from CATLINK.

Cats Become the “TOP1” Pet in Chinese cities

In terms of numbers, cats have surpassed dogs to become the “TOP 1” pets for Chinese people living in cities. According to “2021 China Pet Industry White Paper”, there are 58.06 million cats and 54.29 million dogs in urban Chinese families. Families in lower-tier cities and rural areas tend to have more dogs as pets or guards. 

Since 2018, the number of cats has been growing steadily. Cats are easier to keep as a pet for young Chinese people living a fast-paced life in the cities and require less space, time, and attention than dogs.

Dogs Spend More Money than Cats

Regarding the “consuming capacity” of a single pet, a dog spends an average of 2,634 CNY (~390 USD) per year, with a 16.5% growth compared to last year. On average, a cat’s annual spend is 1,826 CNY (~270 USD), the same as last year.

With the fast-paced life and low birth rate, more and more Chinese people consider pets part of their family. Therefore, they are more willing to spend on pet medical care, better quality food, pet beauty, and physical and mental health. We predict that the Pet Industry in China will keep growing in the following years.

The post Pet Economy grows faster than “Human Economy”: a new opportunity in the post-covid China appeared first on WalkTheChat.

In this article, we will explain:

• Red (Xiaohongshu) updated overview and user persona
• 5 new consumers trends on Red (Xiaohongshu) and opportunities for related brands

Red (Xiaohongshu) Platform Overview

• MAU (Monthly Active User): 200 million, which doubled the size in January 2020 (100 million).
• Geographic: over 50% are living in Tier-1 or Tier-2 cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, etc.
• Age: 72% of them are born in the 1990s (Millenials).
• Gender: Female / Male = 70% / 30%. Red used to have 90% of active users being female. However, as the platform grows and content diversifies, it’s attracting more male users and building a more balanced gender distribution.

Red (Xiaohongshu) Users Content Preference Trends

Over time, Red users are showing more diversified interests and behavior. Categories such as food & gourmets, hobbies, home decoration & renovation, and entertainment are the most fast-growing channels.

Here are the 5 types of content that users love to consume in 2022, in terms of post views and search volume:

1. Cooking at home
2. Fitness & workout
3. Fashion & beauty
4. Citytour nearby
5. entertainment at home

Looking for help to define or improve your Red / Xiaohongshu strategy? Talk with us!

Now let’s look at two categories that are more relevant for foreign brands, and see how brands can leverage the uprising trend on Chinese social media.

Fitness & Workout Trends on Xiaohongshu

Following the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the impact of the pandemic, Chinese consumers have become enthusiastic about sport and fitness, especially home workouts. During the Shanghai lockdown, singer and composer Will Liu (Liu Genghong) started live-streaming his home workout training on Douyin and quickly became a social phenomenon.

Thanks to his professional training and positive vibes, Liu became viral all over the Chinese internet. His record is attracting nearly 10 million followers in one day. (source: Xinhua Daily) By June 2022, he has gained more than 72 million followers on Douyin, more than ten times the size before live-streaming fitness content.

Following the success of Will Liu, German fitness influencer Palema Reif also joined Douyin on April 12th. She has attracted more than 11 million followers in two months.

Both of them also have active accounts on Red.

Because of covid, Chinese people have realized the importance of health more than ever before. People actively search for specific sports and fitness training on social media, such as rope skipping, yoga, pilates, etc. Therefore, here’s an opportunity for related industries such as sports and fitness fashion, home workout equipment, etc.

Fashion & Beauty Trends on Xiaohongshu

Fashion & Beauty continue to be trendy topics on Red. According to Red’s internal data of beauty & fashion content, having to wear a mask doesn’t affect Chinese consumers’ pursuit of looking better and more confident.

According to Red’s report on users’ content consuming preference, we can observe the first peak in the click index and search index in October 2021. Chinese consumers used Red as a Chinese “Google” to gather information, and decide what to buy during the 2021 Double 11 Shopping Festival. Both indexes dropped in February after several massive shopping festivals. It quickly picked up again in March 2022, thanks to the Women’s Day Shopping Festival.

According to Red’s Beauty Trends Report published in April, there are four TOP trends in 2022:

• efficient skincare
• Haute makeup
• stacking products
• gender neutrality

Red predicts a promising trend and desire in these verticals during this year because the search volume for these keywords soured in 2021. As the traditional beauty market saturates, new brands entering China have to focus on more segmented verticals. For example, efficient skincare or simplified skincare, functional skincare targeting oily/dry skin, and men’s beauty may see an opportunity here.

Looking for more information about Red / Xiaohongshu marketing? You will find the below articles very useful:

• Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) Marketing – A Complete Guide
• Xiaohongshu/Red Pushes “Account-Store Integration” to drive In-app Conversion

The post RED (Xiaohongshu) Trends 2022: emerging trends in Fitness, Fashion & Beauty appeared first on WalkTheChat.

The traditional eCommerce channel is slowing down, while the growth of live streaming eCommerce has exceeded expectations:

• Traditional eCommerce revenue grew around 1% and reached 582.6 billion CNY (~87 billion USD), including Tmall (Top 1), JD (Top 2), and Pinduoduo (Top 3).
• Livestreaming eCommerce revenue grew 124% and reached 114.5 billion CNY (~17 billion USD). The ranking is Douyin (Top 1), Kuaishou (Top 2), and Diantao (from Taobao, Top 3).

Due to continuous covid cases and regional lockdown in Q2, online and offline merchants have suffered from consumer shopping desire. However, we can observe new trends and opportunities hidden behind the changes.

In this article, we will summarize:

• JD.com 618 Mid-Year Sale result: transaction volume, growth rate, and uprising categories.
• Douyin 618 Mid-Year Sale result: highlights in sales-driven short videos and live streaming, consumer trends, and TOP 5 best-performing brands.
• Taobao/Tmall 618 Mid-Year Sale result: result, uprising categories, and consumer trends.

JD.com 618 Mid-Year Sale Result

• As of 23:59 on June 18th, Beijing time, JD.com reported a total transaction volume of 379.3 billion CNY (~56.68 USD) for the 2022 JD618 Grand Promotion, which exceeds last year’s 343.8 billion CNY (~51.38 USD). (source: JD official website)
• Although JD.com achieved an increase of 10.32% in total transaction volume, the growth rate is lower than that of the same period last year (43.72%). (source: chyxx)
• Regarding category, home-workout equipment, smart home appliances, and quality household category have experienced positive YoY growth, with an increase of 232%, 123%, and 108% respectively. (source: CBNData)
• In 2021, JD.com experienced a revenge consumption trend that contributed to a YoY growth rate of 43.72. Unfortunately, this trend didn’t appear in 2022. Because of the sporadic covid situation, Chinese consumers tend to be more cautious and rational in their purchasing decision. (source: chyxx)
• During the Double 11 Single’s Day Shopping Festival 2021, JD.com reached a total transaction volume of 341.9 billion CNY. (source: Sohu) So JD.com’s performance was still more robust during the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival, which was initially JD’s Anniversary Festival.

We’ve prepared this chart showing JD’s evolvement in total transaction volume during the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival from 2017-2022:

Douyin eCommerce 618 Mid-Year Sale Result

Douyin eCommerce has been attracting merchants to open Douyin stores and pushing for in-app conversion. One of the main characteristics of Douyin eCommerce is to leverage Douyin KOL and Douyin Livestreaming.

• During the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival in 2022, brands and KOLs held 40.45 million hours of live streaming on Douyin. This is a 58.88% increase compared to Double 11 Single’s Day 2021 (25.46 million hours). (source: Douyin eCommerce official & iiMedia)
• More merchants and brands participated in 618 this year, with a 159% increase compared to last year. (source: Douyin eCommerce official)
• During 618, short videos with shopping carts (directly driving traffic to stores) have been viewed 115 billion times. Douyin has around 650 million monthly active users, so this means Douyin users have watched over 176 sales-driven short videos during this year’s 618 Shopping Festival.
• In terms of geographic location, consumers in Shanghai showed strong purchasing power, ranking them No.1 in total purchasing volume, followed by Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Guangzhou. (source: Douyin eCommerce official)

Shanghai went through a regional lockdown when online shopping and delivery were interrupted. So, consumers leveraged 618 to vent out the “delayed” shopping desire and store some daily necessities for the future.

• Regarding the buyer persona, Gen-Z has contributed the most to the growth of transactions on Douyin. Gen-Z buyers have spent 164% more compared to the same period last year. Millennials also purchased 117% more in order volume. (source: CBNData)

The TOP 5 best-performing brands in GMV (Gross Merchandising Volume) during Douyin 618 are: 

1. Xiaomi (consumer electronics)
2. Maotai (Chinese liquor)
3. Adidas
4. YA-MAN (Japanese beauty instrument)
5. Angeperle (Chinese pearl company)

The rest of the players in the TOP 10 ranking are all domestic brands. (source: CBNData)

Taobao/Tmall 618 Mid-Year Sale Result

Tmall announced that 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival GMV (Gross Merchandising Volume) had achieved a “positive growth” without revealing too many details.

• During this year’s 618, over 260k brands and merchants participated in the grand event, a 4% increase from last year’s 250k. (source: CBNData)
• 300 brands have surpassed a transaction volume of over 10 million CNY (~1.49 million USD); 100 products have exceeded the same. We can observe that “hero product” still plays a crucial role in Taobao/Tmall eCommerce, as the best-selling “star” product can contribute a large percentage to the total revenue of a store or brand.
• In terms of geographic location, Shanghai consumers also ranked the highest in total transaction volume, achieving positive growth. Beijing ranked No.2.
• Regarding consumer trends, Gen-Z buyers grew by 30% compared to last year. Categories such as new healthcare, colored contact lenses, and home medical appliances are popular among Gen-Zs. Although still in their youth, Chinese Gen-Zs take good care of themselves, pursuing a prettier look and healthier lifestyle.

Looking for more data about Tmall? Check out this article:

• China’s 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival 2022 first results: Skincare and Beauty continue to thrive, Fashion slows down

Our observation

In post-covid China, Chinese consumers are more cautious and rational in purchasing decisions. Traditional eCommerce platforms face a severe challenge from live streaming eCommerce such as Douyin. With live streaming going on all year long, people are less excited at traditional major sales festivals because they can also enjoy discounts offered by live streamers.

Building a solid brand positioning to grow and sustainably thrive in China is more important than ever. Being on Chinese consumer’s top of mind in your niche vertical is the prerequisite for success.

The post China’s 618 Mid-Year Sale Results: Live streaming eCommerce Revenue Grows by 124% appeared first on WalkTheChat.

What’s their secret to success? Let’s look at this case study for social marketing in China.

Unique Positioning, Branding, and Story-telling are important

PMPM is inspired by “Pour (le) Monde Pour (le) Monde” in French. It means “For the world, to the world”. It’s the first skincare brand positioned in “exploration”: explore the world, empower the skin.

The naming of PMPM products also contains overseas travel destinations and their local ingredients. For example, BULGARIA Rose Black Tea Essential Oil, ICELAND Cetraria Islandica Essence Cream, etc.

The idea of exploring the distant world resonated well with young Chinese consumers, especially when overseas traveling is restricted for more than two years. In May 2021, before the 618 Mid Year Shopping Festival started, PMPM did three live streamings from Britanny, France, and brought the beautiful French coastline to Chinese people. The non-sales-driven live streamings also left a positive impression and strengthened the emotional connection with the consumers.

Focus on Red/Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Bilibili to connect with young Chinese audiences

PMPM’s target audiences are mainly millennials and Gen-Z. Therefore, PMPM decided to focus on social media such as Red, Douyin, and Bilibili. The reason is that Chinese consumers are actively consuming content about beauty, fashion, and travel. Young audiences are also open to exploring new brands.

The success of PMPM is based on a profound understanding of the target audience’s consumption habits and expectations. Therefore, PMPM designed customized content and KOL strategy for each social media platform:

Douyin KOL strategy

Douyin is a great platform to maximize exposure with entertaining content. PMPM worked with beauty KOLs for makeup tutorials, celebrity same style makeup, etc. Besides, they also worked with other KOLs to reach a broader audience, such as daily-life sharing, relationships, friendships, short videos with a plot. These are the trendy topics among young female audiences on Douyin.

Red/Xiaohongshu KOL Strategy

Chinese consumers heavily use Red during the research period, actively looking for skincare tips and product recommendations. Besides working with beauty KOLs, PMPM also collaborated with travel, photography KOLs, and lifestyle KOLs who can produce high-quality content. This strategy boosts the mentions and awareness on Red while maintaining a solid brand positioning.

Bilibili KOL Strategy

Bilibili is an important platform to connect with all kinds of “subculture” groups. PMPM collaborated with anime KOL, biochemical KOL, and foreigner KOLs to offer differentiated content that their Gen-Z audience enjoys.

(source: Weiboyi 微播易)

Align overall marketing strategy with China Commercial Calendar

618 Mid Year Shopping Festival is one of China’s most important sales festivals. Brands need to work with different tiers of KOLs and KOCs during various stages.

PMPM started to work with many KOCs and tier 3 influencers on Douyin and Bilibili at the beginning of April, two months before the 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival. Although it didn’t create any peak of engagement, this strategy works well to create a word-of-mouth effect.

In early May, PMPM worked with more top-tier KOLs and influencers on Douyin to boost awareness and engagement. Combined with three live streaming sessions from Britanny, France, PMPM reached out accurately to its target audience on Douyin and successfully created a trendy topic.

From late May to June, the pre-sale period of 618 has already started. PMPM worked with more mid-tier KOLs, invested heavily in Red, and created several viral posts. During this period, KOL content such as “my list to buy/not buy during this 618” is the hottest topic. The reason is that consumers rely on KOL’s recommendations to select from hundreds of similar brands taking part in the 618 Shopping Festival.

In July, the big day has ended. PMPM still kept a KOL distribution strategy of top-tier KOLs : mid-tier KOLs : long-tail KOLs of 1:7:3 to keep generating content and discussion.

Summary

PMPM planned its social media, influencer content, and live streaming to ensure a successful debut in the 618 Shopping Festival. While keeping a strong brand positioning. Foreign brands can learn from PMPM’s case study, and adapt the social media marketing strategy according to each one’s context.

The post China Case Study: How to build a brand from 0 to 300 million revenue with social media? appeared first on WalkTheChat.

Early this year, JD and Shopify formed a strategic partnership to help international merchants to sell cross-border to China more easily.

JD achieved an 18% increase in income, higher than the market average

In 2022 Q1, top-tier Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing have suffered from covid. The strict lockdown and logistics interruptions left visible impacts on both offline stores and eCommerce sales. As a result, National Online Retail Sales in Q1 have grown by 6.6%, lower than 14.1%, the YoY growth rate in 2021. (source: National Bureau of Statistics; 2022.04; 2022.01).

Meanwhile, JD Group achieved an income from operations of ~400 million USD, an increase of 17.95% from 2021 Q1 and much higher than the 6.6% market average (source: JD First Quater Results in 2022).

JD Marketplace: Partner with Shopify to support cross-border eCommerce merchants

JD.com and Shopify formed a strategic partnership, helping merchants to sell cross-border with a limited cost. The partnership consist in two parts:

• JD.com helps Chinese merchants sell to overseas markets with the help of Shopify via a DTC approach.
• Shopify allows western sellers easily list their products on JD’s cross-border eCommerce platform JD Worldwide, giving access to JD’s 550 million active users in China. (source: Shopify)

Chinese consumers are avid international shoppers. Especially for categories where people value the quality, such as formula milk, supplements, and luxury goods, 68% of Chinese customers considered foreign goods as having higher quality than the domestic ones (source: RetailX).

Up to 2022 May, JD Marketplace has been available for the US merchants, and will gradually expand this solution to European markets.

What are the benefits of selling on JD Worldwide with Shopify?

JD Marketplace will allow Shopify merchants in the US to get started as quickly as three to four weeks. To support merchants in their effort to begin selling into China, the channel will provide: 

• Expedited onboarding to help merchants sell quickly
• Logistics: end-to-end fulfillment from JD’s US warehouses directly to consumers in China
• Pricing and taxes: smart price conversion to local currency based on foreign exchange rates, typical category pricing, as well as VAT and Consumption Tax
• Intelligent translation of product names and descriptions

（source: Shopify）

Apart from getting listed on JD.com, merchants can also actively drive traffic from social media to their products listed. The marketplace also provides in-site advertising platforms to help merchants capture their valuable audience searching for related products or categories.

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Solid logistics chain: JD’s competitive advantage

JD showed vitality despite the covid situation in China, mainly thanks to its self-built logistics network and fulfillment infrastructures. This eCommerce platform was one of few online channels that could still operate during the strict lockdown.

JD Group has built around 1,400 warehouses within China and overseas (Source: Sohu). It also operates its own logistics chains to guarantee quality service and speedy delivery to the end consumers.

At the height of the covid lockdown in Shanghai, JD sent 80,000 tons of daily necessities including medicines and mom&kids products. Around 4,000 JD delivery personnel also came to Shanghai to support day-to-day operations. This action has gained goodwill from Chinese consumers.

JD.com collaborate with premium brands to attract more female users

JD.com has been the strongest marketplace for consumer electronics. Therefore, it attracted more male than female users (62.91% male vs. 37.10% female, source: iimedia).

In recent years, JD tried to expand its categories to fashion and luxury to affiliate with more female consumers. In 2022 Q1, many premium brands joined forces with JD.com, including fine jewelry brand Qeelin (part of Kering Group), French high fashion brand Lanvin, and US premium lifestyle brand Tory Burch. Below are some examples of these flagship stores:

JD’s above-average performance during 2022 Q1 had given consumers more confidence in the platform. In collaboration with Shopify, the JD Marketplace aims to help solve cross-border commerce challenges. JD’s simplified procedure in the product listing, in-site marketing, and logistics solutions have helped US brands sell to China more quickly and will benefit more foreign brands in the future.

Want to know more about JD? Check out this article:

• JD, Alibaba and Pinduoduo’s Strong E-commerce performance Post-COVID
• JD.com 618 Revenues Grow 33% Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

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