Market Updates
Get the latest China Marketing & E-commerce news with our monthly Market Updates.
CCTV Spring Festival Gala – Highlights and Must-knows
As the Year of the Rat is about to start millions of Chinese are starting the countdown to the Chinese New Year by watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, commonly abbreviated in Chinese as Chunwan (春晚). A great Live blog by WhatsonWeibo can be followed, with updates on all major highlights. Every year, the Gala has a different theme. Sometimes, these themes are very clear, such as the “Chinese Dream” in 2016, or “National Unity” in 2017. This year the Gala seems to have an umbrella theme capturing everything from the celebration of 70 years ‘New China,’ the fight against poverty, unity among all languages and ethnic groups within China, and China’s important role in international society. The show even switched to one of Wuhan’s main hospitals to get an update from the nurses there who are spending their Chinese New Year night taking care of patients. A very inclusive
Perfect Diary’s Virtual Influencer Gets Her Own Mini Program Store, Product Line
Perfect Diary has been running a succesful virtual influencer-led strategy to gain private traffic. The fictitious Xiao Wanzi now even has a product line bearing her name. The line is being sold exclusively on her own e-commerce and makeup tutorial Mini Program on WeChat. The whole concept is build on the idea to encourages customers to join one of the hundreds of private WeChat groups led by the fictional Xiao Wanzi. Then, once consumers are in the groups, Xiao Wanzi shares special offers, new product launches, and beauty and skincare advice with them. Read on to find out what other tricks this brand has up it’s sleave to win over young Chinese consumers.
WeChat Brand Zone 2.0 Update!
The WeChat Brand Zone is a specific area that shows up on the very top in the search result page when users enter a brand name (and related terms) that has set up their zone. It was first launched early in 2018 and provides great opportunities to build up the brand awareness and unique selling point of the brand. Not only product sales, official account, mini-programs are displayed compactly and neatly, but also the value-adding services are following up to enhance the after-sale side brand image. The latest update, relevant only for “A-level” brands is WeChat’s way of tapping further into the great potential in the Live-streaming – eCommerce business model. WeChat is promoting the native live-streaming booking feature in this brand zone update. Official Live-streaming can now be promoted in the prominent area in the brand zone.
Bilibili, QQ Music team up to promote independent musicians
Video-sharing site Bilibili on Tuesday announced a partnership with gaming giant Tencent’s music streaming platform QQ Music to promote and support independent artists. The partnership will allow verified artists to receive support and exposure across Bilibili’s and QQ Music’s platforms. Bilibili has been broadening its content beyond the anime, comic, and game (ACG) content it was known for to more mainstream entertainment offerings. As a major draw to users, music is increasingly one of its primary focuses.
Kuaishou removes Taobao referrals
Kuaishou has suspended an e-commerce referral feature for Taobao products. The feature previously allowed listings from the e-commerce marketplace to be displayed in the short video app. Kuaishou has been doubling down on e-commerce features in the hope of commercializing its huge user base. And Tencent is reportedly going to invest $2 Billion, which also explains why product referals to other third-part platforms like JD and Youzan are still available but Taobao is not.
JD.com launches new premium lifestyle store in Beijing
Chinese online retailer JD.com has launched a new lifestyle brand called Seven Fun. This brand is expected to focus on tier-one cities targeting working professionals with an annual income of over RMB 100,000. The first Seven Fun space spans 10,000 square feet. It is a combination of bars, eateries, and a supermarket that sells fresh produce and groceries, as well as wine and craft beer.The company said that, in order to maximize its return, the Seven Fun hopes to penetrate the consumption and lifestyle needs of young working professionals, from breakfast, lunch, dinner to late-night snacks. Consumers can also place orders via the 7Fresh app and have them delivered to their homes. From the description of this article, this new brand could bring great opportunities to all kinds of retail product brands in the near future.
Xiaohongshu to jump on ‘shoppertainment’ trend with live-streaming
Chinese social commerce platform Xiaohongshu will launch live-streaming features early next year, the latest in a stream of e-commerce sites that have implemented the feature as a way to better engage with consumers. The launch comes as other prominent e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, JD.com and Mogu have launched the feature with great success. Live-streaming is part of the growing “shoppertainment” trend in China’s e-commerce industry, where platforms meld entertainment and shopping to entice shoppers to spend more time on their platform. Pinduoduo debuted its first live-streaming session late last month in a signal that the company could also be adding the feature to the platform soon as a way to drive growth.
Will Chinese Gen-Zers Get on Board with Palace?
A cultish, London-born skateboard shop and streetwear brand named Palace threw a pop-up in the Chinese city from November 9 to 11 while also officially launching its online shop on Tmall on the 11th. The flash announcement that Palace was coming to Shanghai rocked Chinese streetwear fans on Instagram and Weibo. As news of the Palace pop-up continues to spread across WeChat and Weibo, more conversations about the brand have come up. Some loyal fans travelled to Shanghai Specifically for the event, and the popular collection sold out in a minute on Tmall. Read on to learn how Palace successfully entered the Chinese market.
CCTV Spring Festival Gala – Highlights and Must-knows
As the Year of the Rat is about to start millions of Chinese are starting the countdown to the Chinese New Year by watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, commonly abbreviated in Chinese as Chunwan (春晚). A great Live blog by WhatsonWeibo can be followed, with updates on all major highlights. Every year, the Gala has a different theme. Sometimes, these themes are very clear, such as the “Chinese Dream” in 2016, or “National Unity” in 2017. This year the Gala seems to have an umbrella theme capturing everything from the celebration of 70 years ‘New China,’ the fight
Perfect Diary’s Virtual Influencer Gets Her Own Mini Program Store, Product Line
Perfect Diary has been running a succesful virtual influencer-led strategy to gain private traffic. The fictitious Xiao Wanzi now even has a product line bearing her name. The line is being sold exclusively on her own e-commerce and makeup tutorial Mini Program on WeChat. The whole concept is build on the idea to encourages customers to join one of the hundreds of private WeChat groups led by the fictional Xiao Wanzi. Then, once consumers are in the groups, Xiao Wanzi shares special offers, new product launches, and beauty and skincare advice with them. Read on to find out what
WeChat Brand Zone 2.0 Update!
The WeChat Brand Zone is a specific area that shows up on the very top in the search result page when users enter a brand name (and related terms) that has set up their zone. It was first launched early in 2018 and provides great opportunities to build up the brand awareness and unique selling point of the brand. Not only product sales, official account, mini-programs are displayed compactly and neatly, but also the value-adding services are following up to enhance the after-sale side brand image. The latest update, relevant only for “A-level” brands is WeChat’s way of tapping
Bilibili, QQ Music team up to promote independent musicians
Video-sharing site Bilibili on Tuesday announced a partnership with gaming giant Tencent’s music streaming platform QQ Music to promote and support independent artists. The partnership will allow verified artists to receive support and exposure across Bilibili’s and QQ Music’s platforms. Bilibili has been broadening its content beyond the anime, comic, and game (ACG) content it was known for to more mainstream entertainment offerings. As a major draw to users, music is increasingly one of its primary focuses.
Kuaishou removes Taobao referrals
Kuaishou has suspended an e-commerce referral feature for Taobao products. The feature previously allowed listings from the e-commerce marketplace to be displayed in the short video app. Kuaishou has been doubling down on e-commerce features in the hope of commercializing its huge user base. And Tencent is reportedly going to invest $2 Billion, which also explains why product referals to other third-part platforms like JD and Youzan are still available but Taobao is not.
JD.com launches new premium lifestyle store in Beijing
Chinese online retailer JD.com has launched a new lifestyle brand called Seven Fun. This brand is expected to focus on tier-one cities targeting working professionals with an annual income of over RMB 100,000. The first Seven Fun space spans 10,000 square feet. It is a combination of bars, eateries, and a supermarket that sells fresh produce and groceries, as well as wine and craft beer.The company said that, in order to maximize its return, the Seven Fun hopes to penetrate the consumption and lifestyle needs of young working professionals, from breakfast, lunch, dinner to late-night snacks. Consumers can also
Xiaohongshu to jump on ‘shoppertainment’ trend with live-streaming
Chinese social commerce platform Xiaohongshu will launch live-streaming features early next year, the latest in a stream of e-commerce sites that have implemented the feature as a way to better engage with consumers. The launch comes as other prominent e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, JD.com and Mogu have launched the feature with great success. Live-streaming is part of the growing “shoppertainment” trend in China’s e-commerce industry, where platforms meld entertainment and shopping to entice shoppers to spend more time on their platform. Pinduoduo debuted its first live-streaming session late last month in a signal that the company could also
Will Chinese Gen-Zers Get on Board with Palace?
A cultish, London-born skateboard shop and streetwear brand named Palace threw a pop-up in the Chinese city from November 9 to 11 while also officially launching its online shop on Tmall on the 11th. The flash announcement that Palace was coming to Shanghai rocked Chinese streetwear fans on Instagram and Weibo. As news of the Palace pop-up continues to spread across WeChat and Weibo, more conversations about the brand have come up. Some loyal fans travelled to Shanghai Specifically for the event, and the popular collection sold out in a minute on Tmall. Read on to learn how Palace
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