Consumers in China Shift Focus from Instant Gratification to Longer-term Value
Consumers in China have entered a new era characterised by increased sophistication and prudence, a commitment to sustainability, and a desire for work-life balance. Despite the fact that family remains the most important factor, the “me” economy has grown in popularity.
Also, convenience is becoming increasingly important. Consumers like the convenience of smart gadgets, with 70% prepared to contribute personal information for improved services, but they are concerned about excessive push messaging. The content given via push messaging is unsatisfactory for 75% of consumers because it is irrelevant or not tailored to their requirements.
Are Chinese Middle-Aged Men Luxury’s Next Big Spenders?
China’s menswear market was worth $104 billion in 2021, according to a survey by data analysis firm iiMedia Research, and is predicted to increase at a CAGR of 8.47% over the next five years. In a country with a population of over 1.4 billion people, it’s no surprise that male clients want to have a voice in their wardrobe – hence the term ta jingji, or “He economy.”
An account called @云爸爸品牌男装, also known as Yunbaba, that sells middle-aged men’s clothing has gained ground recently on Douyin. It attracted a lot of attention from the audience including younger people.
Canudilo, a local menswear brand famed for its traditionally fitted suits and separates, is hosting a series of themed fashion roundtables for male customers. It also works with renowned local designers and artists, such as Liu Pingyun (who designed the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic mascot), to develop eye-catching pieces for the middle-aged market.
As the menswear market accelerates, options for older male shoppers are limited. “Men are too shy to discuss how to dress if their bodies are out of shape. Money is not the problem but the market still has a lot to do to educate this group.”
Link: https://jingdaily.com/chinese-middle-aged-men-shoppers-ralph-lauren/
WeChat Unveils New Feature for Managing Group Chats
Admins and group chat owners can now highlight a message by long-pressing it and selecting “Sticky on Top.” Members of the group can click on the message, which will take them back to the original post, making the material more evident to the reader.
The hashtag #WeChat released a group chat message pinning feature# garnered over 460 billion views on Weibo this week, referring to a new feature that allows users to pin group chats to the top of WeChat for easier access. Netizens, on the other hand, are dissatisfied since they identify WeChat as nothing more than a working app. Users, on the other side, are proposing additional features like as the removal of like notifications and higher resolution photographs, among others. Despite the less than enthusiastic response from users to the new feature, WeChat remains the most popular social media platform among Chinese users, with over 78% of its 1.24 billion users residing in the country.
However, brands that build private traffic groups on WeChat may benefit from this capability. Brands might, for example, provide loyal consumers with exclusive discounts and bonuses, or improve the customer experience by providing more tailored aftersales services. Meanwhile, during recent lockdowns in locations such as Shanghai, group chats on WeChat were heavily used for collective shopping. As a result, as group buying has transitioned from rural to mainstream following the 2022 lockdowns, the group-buying community can benefit from this new function by allowing consumers to locate their orders more efficiently.
Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qUotevoBpFQXcebxXR4DBQ
Elon Musk Tells Employees He Wants Twitter to Be More Like WeChat and TikTok
Elon Musk told Twitter staff on Thursday that if the company wants to reach 1 billion users, it needs to become more like WeChat and TikTok. Musk stated that the app should be more useful and that “people should be really entertained and informed.”
“There’s no WeChat equivalent outside of China,” Musk said, “You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can recreate that with Twitter, we’ll be a great success.”
Musk emphasised his desire for Twitter to rely more heavily on subscriptions and fees on the call, suggesting that people should pay to be verified.
Link: https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/16/23171054/elon-musk-twitter-deal-1-billion-users-wechat-tiktok
Is Tech Accessories Luxury’s Next Big Opportunity?
Because so much of daily life in China is impossible without mobile technology, the industry is particularly lucrative. According to NPD Group, a market research firm based in the United States, 75% of smartphone users use cases.
The phone case industry is predicted to increase by $11.74 billion (about 78.1 billion yuan) in value between 2020 and 2025, according to a report by market research firm Technavio. Headphone cases, computer cases, and other smart device accessories, on the other hand, are on the rise.
Bottega Veneta created a case for Apple’s iPad in 2010 that featured the brand’s characteristic Intreccio woven design. In recent years, premium companies have embraced headphone cases, with Dior, Gucci, and Prada all promoting high-end designs.
Years later, in June 2021, Chanel released two pearlized leather AirPods cases, causing a stir. These were made of sheepskin and featured a rhinestone-studded version of the traditional Chanel double C emblem. Many people were put off by its expensive price of about $2,970 (20,000 yuan). “The headphone case is more expensive than the headphones, so what’s protecting what?” joked one netizen.
In the end, demand for tech accessories will always be tied to the gadgets they’re meant to complement and protect. To today’s Chinese consumers, luxury is defined by goods that represent their personal taste and style, rather than by a price tag. Like apparel, phone cases (and headphone cases) have become a popular method for young customers to express themselves. It’s only a matter of time before luxury brands and niche players increase their investment in the segment and allow for greater personalisation.
Link: https://jingdaily.com/luxury-phone-tech-accessories-chanel-airpods/
Xiaohongshu Launches Official Cooperation Platform
In April, Xiaohongshu announced management regulations for illegal brand point deductions, which will deduct points for brands that engage in illicit marketing practices. The guidelines’ objective is to severely restrict the brand’s “Private transaction” (i.e., the brand’s private collaboration with bloggers to release posts), requiring the brand’s and bloggers’ cooperative promotion to be performed through the marketing platform “Dandelion” under Xiaohongshu.
Why are brands worried about this promotion platform?
For brand ：
- The brand will worry that the articles published through the cooperation platform will display the brand’s logo, indicating that this is an advertisement, and users will feel uncomfortable
- the brand needs to pay 10% of the service fee to the platform, which means that the launch cost is higher.
- the brand needs to go through a series of processes through platform cooperation, and the procedures are very cumbersome
- the brand should also consider the business content scheduling of the blogger.
Although brands will face such troubles, it is undeniable that the introduction of the rules is necessary. In the past few years, many brands have relied on the little red book to privately seek cooperation with bloggers and even issued false advertisements.
Therefore, for brands, if they want to open the market by relying on red books in the future, it may be the “optimal solution” to follow the rules of the platform.
Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/M1sFpVo-IdzNjpvYsc1iEg