There are 300 million Chinese people that suffer from sleep disorders, and the sleep quality of 94.1% of the public does not meet the healthy standard. As a result China’s sleep-aid market is growing. People are spending increasing amounts of money on products that can help them get a better night’s rest. The average annual online sales revenue growth of snooze-friendly products – such as bedding, sleep-monitoring devices and supplements – has surpassed 10%, according to CBNData. Apart from traditional products, consumers from major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are more interested in new types of sleep aids, including melatonin, enzymes, sprays and smart devices.

What Sephora realized early on is the unique digital landscape in China — millions upon millions of consumers equipped with smartphones that have been immersed within the Tencent environment. Accordingly, last October, Sephora created a new retail system connecting its 200+ brick and mortar stores with their website, app, Tmall, JD, and their WeChat Mini Program to pave the wave for consumers to enjoy a truly seamless beauty experience.  “I think to be successful in China, we have to make sure we always look for the next channel, that you are able to connect back to the heart of your business, which for us is about building the community.” said Benjamin Vuchot, Asia President of Sephora. And as a popular hub for chatting and sharing, WeChat is the natural space to build that community.

A profound shift is underway in the country’s $115 billion luxury market. A growing number of luxury brands are more enthusiastic about WeChat commerce than selling through China’s top B2C e-tailers Tmall and JD.com, despite these platforms’ vigorous efforts to attract top-tier labels. Growth in the number of fashion labels operating flagships on these platforms has been modest this year. Whereas WeChat has actually reached a luxury shopping tipping point, with 60 percent of fashion brands now offering WeChat stores this year up from just 36 percent in 2018. Who is going to win the battle?

Thousands of brands and retailers have seen the value of Wechat Mini Program and jumped on the bandwagon to explore business opportunities in China. Louis Vuitton has created a WeChat Mini Program to interact with the Chinese consumers on a one-on-one basis. Launched on June 14, their latest Mini Program is designed to educate consumers on the latest Louis Vuitton news and products. To promote the program, Louis Vuitton offered the first 2,000 users an opportunity to win a branded badges. By the time of this publication, the post garnered 35,000 pageviews and 72 likes.

Tencent is reportedly now making big plans to take advantage of Asia’s largely untapped movie market. Through its subsidiary, Tencent Pictures, the Chinese conglomerate is apparently making massive strategic moves with plans to churn out more than 100 movies and television shows in the next three to five years. Tencent apparently expects China’s movie industry to become the world’s largest movie market in the coming years. According to Tencent’s vice president, Edward Cheng, part of the company’s strategy will be to use its expertise involving big data.

Consumers in China have shifted to buying more goods from domestic brands in the country’s annual midyear online shopping festival amid the escalating trade war with the US. Chinese home appliance brands Supor, Midea Group and Joyoung saw their combined sales increase fourfold during this week’s 618 shopping festival, compared with a year ago, according to group-buying platform Pinduoduo. State-owned dairy products company Yili Group and Honor, a smartphone unit under Huawei, were among the home-grown brands that sold more than 100 million yuan (US$14.5 million) each on Tmall during the shopping event. About 60% of brands that reached that sales milestone were Chinese brands.