Beibei will be following her online shopping passion with a bi-weekly report on new online shopping trends in the market. This week’s topic explores the online shopping trends of new mothers and the un-sustainability of this habit.

As an expecting mother, 9 months of pregnancy is an both an exciting and exhausting period of time. In 2009, over 16 million Chinese mothers endured this child bearing passage to give birth to their wondrous bundles of joy. This 9 month period of time often represents 9 months of relative isolation and rest time for Chinese mothers, sparking what has become an unbelievable growth in online purchasing power.

This period of time for expecting Chinese mothers is a traditional period known as 坐月子 (Zuo Yuezi), which translates to “sitting the month”. Chinese people recognize “Zuo Yuezi” as a period when the mother’s body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to pre-pregnancy conditions. It usually lasts 30 days, but regional variants may last 60, 90 or as many as 6 months. Tradition specifies a restricted diet and puts limitations on activities considered to be harmful. During Zuo Yuezi, the mother is expected to spend all of her time indoors, much of it in bed, and is prohibited from numerous activities such as bathing, hair-washing etc. Online Chinese shopping sites have come to the rescue for antsy moms-to-be. Because of its convenience, new mothers increasingly go online both to look for necessities and entertainment.

New moms like meeting other moms with a baby of the same age. The BBS of Liba.com, a locally-based white collar household guide, has proven itself as the top online spot for moms to exchange various information including baby education, postpartum recovery etc. Moms post link recommendations in their online groups when they find good-quality baby items online. In addition, they often organize or join certain MSN /QQ online groups which provide another method to share resources and information. Fengli, a 30 year-old new mom who works as an editor at Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press shared the list of items she usually purchases online: early education books as well as other books she enjoys, snacks, toys, a baby seat & desk, diapers, imported milk powders, and other early education tools. Many moms confessed buying clothes and cosmetics for themselves on Taobao.com as they spend more time on their computers.

Aiyingshi.com was frequently mentioned by new Shanghai moms; it is a comprehensive online store selling baby items ranging from toys, formula, food, clothing and accessories.

One Chinese mom says,

“My baby is growing fast and quickly loses interest in his old toys. He has already outgrown his baby bed and now his baby seat too. I have to keep buying new items for him even though I think it’s wasteful and bad for the environment. China lacks second hand websites or markets for baby items, so it is inevitable for us to buy new things”.

Yihaodian.com is where moms go for snacks and imported food. Most expressed contentment with their “buy 100rmb, get free door-to-door delivery service” policy. Sometimes they can even get a better discount than they can shopping at supermarkets. Dangdang.com is another popular site with a wide variety of books to meet the mother’s needs.

Online shopping has certainly made preparing for a baby more convenient and sometimes it’s even cheaper. For these reasons new parents will buy more and more products online. Without a price incentive to create a market for used baby products or disincentive for buying new off the internet, sustainability is taking a back seat. With this increase in online shopping habits during the Zuo Yuezi period, we will be tracking whether or not the recycling habits of new mothers is increasing as well.

Can new mothers be the catalyst for actual sustainable change in China? Time will tell.

On Friday, January 29^th, 360quan.com hosted their 90后潮流先锋榜 (post-90’s generation pioneering trends list) awards ceremony in Beijing. Actor Li Chen emceed the event featuring stars such as Jade Liu Li Yang and Yico Zeng, who came to receive their award and perform for the cheering crowd of Chinese teenage fans from all over China.

These same cheering teenagers and their peers voted on actresses, actors, artists, bands, brands, musicians, and works of art of various types for their influence and pioneering abilities in their respective industries. In collaboration with Mogo, 1626.com and YOHO!, 360quan.com invited their post-90’s generation members to vote within two categories, one for most ‘pioneering spirit’ and the other for ‘must have’ product or brand.

eno won the award for ‘must have independent brand.’ Among the list of ‘must have’ were: HP (notebook), Samsung (mobile phone), ONLY (women’s apparel), Adidas (sports apparel), New Fei Fei 新飞飞 (Netease’s 3-D online game), YOHO! (e-commerce site), Twice (jewelry accessories) and Mito Xiu Xi 美图秀秀 (image processing software).

Here’s who they voted for pioneering spirit: Jade Liu Li Yang 刘力扬 (singer), Xiao Song Jia 小宋佳 (actress), Lucky Monkey 跳猴乐队(fusion punk band), Shi Yan Fei 施艳飞 (up & coming actress), Chang Si Si 常思思 (up & coming folk singer), Zhang Xiao He 张小盒 (online character), Chen Chen 陈晨 (written work). And here’s who they voted for the pioneering spirits of the post-90’s generation (meaning they were actually born in the 1990’s): Yico Zeng 曾轶可 (singer), Li Chen 李晨(TV host), 杨紫 Yang Zi (pop star), BY2 (Singaporean music duo), Caffiene (band), Ai Shui Shui 艾水水 (TV & Film work).

360quan.com is China’s fastest growing social media network for post-90’s generation youth. With close to 25 million registered users, 360quan.com is devoted to providing an online home for people with similar interests, online clans, and super-connectors. The platform provides all the basics of an SNS, including personal space, blogs, music, videos, photo albums, games and other multimedia services and content. Their users have a distinct urban youth culture; they are the hip-hop artists, the make-up stylists, the snowboarders and the parkour clubs that  are leading China’s youth revolution.

Once again thank you 360quan.com and special thanks to our post-90’s generation fans!

]]> http://enovatechina.com/blog/post-90%e2%80%99s-chinese-youth-vote-eno-as-a-%e2%80%98must-have%e2%80%99-brand/feed/ 1 http://enovatechina.com/blog/online-groceries-a-recipe-for-success/ http://enovatechina.com/blog/online-groceries-a-recipe-for-success/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:29:06 +0000 Jermaine http://enovatechina.com/blog/?p=1886 It’s just a matter of time until you can buy Alaskan salmon along with my fake Head Porter bags on Taobao. The big-boys of eCommerce, Taobao and Jingdong, haven’t yet made the move to online grocery shopping, but other websites are leading the charge. After a six month test-run, 菜管家 (Cai Guan Jia), the biggest online distributor of organic food, recently claimed they see a huge potential in online grocery shopping. On their website, you can shop for 66 kinds of vegetables, 50+ kinds of meat, and more than 20 kinds of seafood.

The busy and fast paced lives of today’s Chinese youth means they’re looking for an easier, more convenient way to shop. If you’ve ever been to a local Carrefour after 5pm you would understand. It’s utter pandemonium. That’s what Cai Guan Jia is banking on. Chinese youth have already become accustomed to buying just about anything online. Furthermore, many are dissatisfied with take-out food and restaurant food. Others are concerned with food safety. So what do they do if they want to get convenient, fresh and high-quality organic food? The answer may soon be online shopping.

Cai Guan Jia has encountered several obstacles. First off, fresh food is different from other products whose quality can be easily standardized and identified. Consumer’s have their own preference. Therefore, the customers’satisfaction is difficult to manage. Secondly, the market is still young, the demand still small. Generally, people who buy food seldom surf online, while people who surf online seldom buy food. Yet this can change very quickly. If it’s convenient and the price is right, Chinese youth may very well turn to the ‘net to stock up their fridges. Cai Guan Jian has accepted this. Yu Tian, COO of Cai Guan Jian states, “In order to build our brand, we have prepared operate at a loss for 2 – 3 years.”

After successfully navigating around issues of credit cards, and implementing successful schemes such as COD (Cash on Delivery) – online shopping has in fact not only managed to establish a foot hold in the consciousness of young Chinese, it has opened up a new realms of possibilities for those willing to both spend and make money. OEM factories now have the ability to directly reach Chinese consumers as their export demand has greatly diminished during the global recession. In addition, entrepreneurial young Chinese have a low cost solution to starting a business during a time when consumerism and Internet penetration is greatly expanding.

Demographics are surely a factor in online shopping; there are no age limits to who can buy what, but these statistics can give us a definite idea of what sorts of products will be likely to sell better than others. According to netpop research, 13-34 years olds in America represent 35% of the internet whereas in China this same age range accounts for 73% of the internet. Although there is much talk about the youth shopping boom online, there are also online shopping sites, such as Vancl, that are catering to an older 25-40 year old demographic that is looking for basics, such as polos, dress shirts, etc.

Our interviewee told us that low cost goods such as t-shirts sell well due to their cheap and transient nature and that one wouldn’t risk too much in that kind of purchase. However, we also found a market outside of taobao for luxury goods of the streetwear variety. Either way, fashion and clothing are big online consumables, helping young people across China better define their image without being constrained by a local stockist. A good example of this would be in the sales of cosmetics products online.

Projection of Chinese cosmetic industry 2005-2012

China is the second biggest cosmetics market in Asia, with skin-care and hair care products accountings for 38% and 20% of total toiletries and cosmetics sales in 2008 respectively. It is a mass market but one that is yet to reach saturation and that has been only further buoyed by increased online shopping activity. Online shopping has only further increased the activity in this market segment allowing easier entry for overseas brands to compete and giving rise to a rise in quality or notoriety of local brands.

Viable options as to the future of online retail could be greater connection with SNS and online communities. What is widely known about China’s vast BBS communities is the not only the sharing of knowledge but also of opinion and experience. People will check BBS before they buy to check feedback and then return to confirm or offer their own testimony. Perhaps, brave, online sites could offer greater synergy with BBS and SNS to help create a community of both sellers and buyers.

As one of these online shopaholics, I always buy cosmetics online and I noticed that my friends are doing the same thing. We are willing to spend a lot of money to maintain and improve our looks. Compare to the price of real stores, online prices are much cheaper. You can make your own decision instead of listening to long winded sales assistants. Also it’s easier to share shopping experience’s online and this way you can find out what’s trendy.

One of the brands that I currently favor is Kiehl’s, a premium American cosmetics brand. Famous Taiwanese actress ‘Big S’ recommended Kiehl’s in a book, and following this I, like many other Chinese girls, began to buy these products. At that time there were no stockists in China so many online sellers started to import their products. Due to the huge internet demand, Kiehl’s has recently launched its first Chinese retail space in Beijing. The store racked up sales of RMB 200,000 on the first day alone and sold out of the company’s major products within a week.  The popularity of the products was far beyond the company’s expectations and their Shanghai store is set to open August 28 .

As for local cosmetics brands I use, Sinoway Herb,  a Chinese skin care brand which was previously only known within Shanghai. After creating an online store at Taobao, their products have become one of the most popular local brands in China and their domestic sales have dramatically increased.

]]> http://enovatechina.com/blog/online-cosmetics-businessa-growing-market-in-china/feed/ 0 http://enovatechina.com/blog/why-the-spending-power-of-chinese-youth-cant-solely-be-measured-by-taobao/ http://enovatechina.com/blog/why-the-spending-power-of-chinese-youth-cant-solely-be-measured-by-taobao/#comments Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:49:34 +0000 Simon http://enovatechina.com/blog/?p=764 This week we’ve been looking at online shopping, and so far much of our attention has been around mammoth Chinese ebay alternative, taobao. However, not all online retail sites which appeal to Chinese youth are based on taobao, neither are they a simple means of procuring a bargain item.

For a while now, streetwear fashion, in particular expensive Japanese brands, have had a strong following amongst young Chinese boys (enoVate newsletter subscribers will have seen evidence of this in our street shots segment). Whether real of fake, high end street style brands such as visvim, clot, neighbourhood are all seen as items of exclusivity and can often be seen being worn by Hong Kong, Taiwanese and mainland trendsetters and celebrities alike.

www.dunk.com.cn is a Beijing based online streetwear retailer. While they are official stockists of certain brands such as nike and adidas, they also resell more exclusive brands, hard to find limited edition sneakers and apparel. Shops such as these give young Chinese men the opportunity to get their hands on goods normally limited to a handful of select stores around the globe.

Original retail values are steep, add to this the re-seller fee and prices can be astronomical. Particularly popular are collaboration pieces such as the clot x visvim christo sandals. Eagle eyed trend watchers will certainly have noticed these bulky and technical looking sandals in all of Shanghai’s and Beijings most popular shopping areas.  The website offers the cheapest pair for a measly 5999RMB, while the most expensive (already sold out) costs a stomach-turning 11800RMB.

Online shopping isn’t only about snapping up bargains or cheap ways to buy common goods. To emulate the styles of idols such as Edison Chen or Li Chen, young boys are willing to part with thousands of RMB. These items may be limited to the purchasing power of a select few but it shows the realm of possibility for luxury brands and the upper limits of the spending power amongst the Chinese youth.