Today, with the number of Chinese netizens breaking through the "one billion" threshold, the online consumer market, which is carrying the mission of expanding domestic demand and stimulating consumption, is ushering in new development opportunities.

In August this year, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released the 48th Statistical Report on the Development of Internet in China, which showed that by June 2021, the number of Internet users in China had reached 1011 million, an increase of 21.75 million over December 2020, and the Internet penetration rate had reached 71.6%.

It is worth noting that the number of online shopping users in China has reached 812 million, accounting for 80.3% of all Internet users.

The China E-Commerce Report 2020 issued by the Department of E-Commerce and Information Technology of the Ministry of Commerce shows that in 2020, the national e-commerce transaction volume will reach 37.21 trillion yuan, showing the characteristics of explosive growth of e-commerce, rapid development of social e-commerce, and e-commerce accelerating the drive of industrial digital transformation.

Behind the growing number of e-commerce transactions, in fact, China's online shopping consumers are also forming new consumption passwords in the process of "placing orders" again and again.

Recently, Beijing Normal University released the 2021 Online Shopping Consumer Confidence Index Survey Report (hereinafter referred to as the Report). The Report shows that in the past 11 months of 2021, China's economy has developed steadily and the economic situation has improved, which has led to a steady increase in consumer satisfaction with the economy. Online shopping is becoming an important way to boost consumption.

At the same time, the confidence index of online shoppers in China is on the rise. Online shoppers are paying more attention to the high cost performance of goods. At the same time, Chinese brands are leading the new consumption trend of the new e-commerce platform.

Consumption upgrading requires cost performance and experience

"You can bargain back and forth with vendors in the vegetable market for a few cents cheaper, or you can spend a lot of money on the newly listed overcoats in the shop window.".

This interesting joke is probably a true portrayal of many consumers today.

The Report also shows that nearly half of the respondents most agree with the online shopping consumption concept of "paying attention to cost performance and rational moderation", followed by the concept of "enjoying fun and personality while paying attention to emotional connection and quality details", reaching 31%.

We should pay attention to both cost performance and emotional connection. Such consumption scenarios can be found everywhere in today's e-commerce platforms.

For example, in this year's "Double 11", in Pinduoduo, in addition to Apple phones, sweet apples from six major apple producing areas in Shaanxi, Shandong, Gansu, Sichuan and Xinjiang are also used as "Double 11" subsidy products, allowing consumers to taste two "true flavors" at a time.

"From Apple to 'Apple', we subsidize Chinese local agricultural product brands as well as iPhones. Our goal is to make platform consumers live a cost-effective and high-quality life," said the relevant person in charge of the platform.

The pursuit of experience is also becoming a new preference of consumers.

"To buy a lipstick, first go to the social platform to see the color test notes of other celebrities, and then go to major e-commerce to compare prices." At present, with the rise of young consumer groups, consumers are not only satisfied with the pursuit of commodity functionality, but also enjoy the social experience before and after shopping.

In this context, the types of online shopping platforms are showing a diversified development trend, and consumers' choice channels are increasingly rich. Looking at the current e-commerce platforms, in addition to Taobao, Jingdong, Pinduoduo and other full category platforms, new shopping platforms such as Tiaoyin, Fasthand and Xiaohongshu, traditional physical shopping malls and supermarket online services, cross-border e-commerce platforms, second-hand trading platforms, video website member shopping platforms, fan group exclusive shopping and other platforms are also accelerating.

"Guochao" takes the lead in domestic products and opens new e-commerce markets

What is gratifying is that this year's "Double 11", Chinese brands have achieved good results in major e-commerce platforms: jackets printed with the word "China" have sold more than 10000 yuan every month, and cultural and creative products such as the Palace Museum lipstick and Sanxingdui bookmarks have become "popular"

At the same time, many domestic brands such as Hongxingerke, Huili, Chow Tai Fook, Liangpin Store, Mengniu, Luhua, etc. have enjoyed the platform's 10 billion subsidy and other resources.

According to the industry analysis, with the transformation of domestic products brought about by the upgrading of the manufacturing industry and the recognition of young consumer groups on national culture, Chinese brands are ushering in new opportunities for development. The new e-commerce platform leads the new consumption trend of Chinese goods, and old brands and emerging Chinese goods brands are opening up a new market for online consumption.

It is worth noting that although different generations of people tend to buy Chinese goods in online shopping, there are differences in their willingness to buy Chinese brands. According to the Report, the post-00s and post-10s are more willing to buy more Chinese brands than the post-90s group, and the post-80s group has the highest willingness to buy Chinese brands.

At the same time, consumption habits are affected by regional economic development level, industrial structure mode, regional culture, etc., and the southwest and northwest regions are most willing to increase their purchase of domestic brands. The economically developed regions, such as East China, South China, and Central China, are the main distribution areas of cross-border e-commerce pilot zones established by the State Council, and consumers are also more willing to purchase imported goods.

In general, as more and more consumers pay attention to cost performance and consumption quality, the concept of rational consumption is continuously deepening, and the trend of China's consumer confidence index is getting better and rising, which proves once again that the vitality of the Chinese market and the potential of the consumer market are particularly worthy of expectations.