Market Updates
Find out what is happening in the Chinese Digital Market with our Market Updates.
Alipay to issue electronic marriage licenses for people married in Jiangsu Province
The government in China is digitizing their services more and more. Earlier this year the government in Jiangxi province issued ID chips for smartphone users. Attach to the SIM card it can store sensitive identifying information for safer verification over the internet. China’s tech companies have caught onto this trend and have begun offering an increasing number of government services on their various ecosystems. Mostly on…? You guessed it, Mini-Programs! The latest example is a mini-program of Alipay which Jiangsu Province will use to issue electronic marriage licenses. Users are required to search for the mini-program in Alipay and scan their faces to verify their identity in order for it to be issued. Freaky but useful
Online-to-offline trend a sign of omni-channel fashion retailing’s growth in China and US
O2O, New Retail, so many trendy words to describe a phenomenon that is hard to get around. Granted, it can sometimes be difficult to imagine bricks-and-mortar stores still have a future in China. That is how all-encompassing e-commerce has become in the country. But many new-generation online fashion and beauty start-ups have discovered that the next logical growth step is to take their online marketplace, well, offline.
Chinese companies scramble to take a bite of growing mooncake market pie
Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the Chinese market gets flooded with mooncakes, a kind of baked pastry that symbolizes family reunions and which is traditionally consumed as part of the celebrations. Ahead of the festival, which falls on Monday, a number of Chinese F&B companies branched out their offerings to include the round delicacy, as the mooncake market grows in the country. A piece of the pie Hot pot brand Chen JiSunhe is joining the race to the hearts and wallets of Chinese consumers during the festive season, having announced recently it will sell mooncakes for the very first time. A number of tea brands have also launched their own savory and sweet concoctions, amid rising demand.
Coffee companies in China growing rapidly as beverage gains ground with young Chinese
In her coffee shop in downtown Beijing, Zhang Lanlan busily serves customers who stop in during lunch hour. After living in South Korea for about eight years, Zhang returned to China in 2016. Looking to start a business in the city and noting the growing popularity of coffee, she decided to open a coffee shop. The decision seems to have been a smart one, as media reports estimate that the coffee shop market in China is expected to grow to $12 billion by 2022. Of course she faces stiff competition. Starbucks came to the Chinese mainland in 1999. Currently, the chain has more than 3,300 shops across 141 cities in China, with a new store opening every
Are China’s ‘young, fresh meat’ men too feminine?
There’s an ongoing debate about masculinity and femininity across the world, and China is taking part as well. Many young Chinese women have become fans of “young fresh meat” – feminine-looking men. A Xinhua opinion piece criticized the popularity of overly feminine men – but many Chinese internet users disagreed. But what can brands learn about this phenomenon for their Digital Marketing Campaigns in China? Read the full Inkstone article here.
The Booming Male KOL Market on Little Red Book
Little Red Book, the explosively popular social e-commerce platform, is seeing new growth opportunities in the male luxury market after launching a section exclusively featuring male styles. In this article, Jing Daily lists some different types of male influencers and how luxury brands can communicate through them.
Is that a Loius Vuitton? No, it’s a Plada: China’s knock-off economy
Codiva chocolate, KLG Fried Chicken, Srutbucsk Coffee, New Bylenera sneakers. China is still coping with many stories of fake products and even complete fake stores. The brick-and-mortar stores are easier to spot and close down, but the internet is the perfect hideout. Unsurprisingly Europol estimates that 86% of fakes still originate in China. This fun article gives more interesting stats accompanied by interesting stories by the author.
Bullet Messaging reaches 4 million users in just 9 days
Exciting news this week in China’s online world about a new messaging app called Bullet Messaging (子弹短信). In only 9 days since its launch it reached 4 million active users. The app surpassed both WeChat and the popular live streaming app Douyin (Tik Tok) becoming the most downloaded social iOS app in the Chinese App Store. Is there any chance that this app becomes the next WeChat？Probably not, but it is worth keeping an eye on it.
Alipay to issue electronic marriage licenses for people married in Jiangsu Province
The government in China is digitizing their services more and more. Earlier this year the government in Jiangxi province issued ID chips for smartphone users. Attach to the SIM card it can store sensitive identifying information for safer verification over the internet. China’s tech companies have caught onto this trend and have begun offering an increasing number of government services on their various ecosystems. Mostly on…? You guessed it, Mini-Programs! The latest example is a mini-program of Alipay which Jiangsu Province will use to issue electronic marriage licenses. Users are required to search for the mini-program in Alipay and
Online-to-offline trend a sign of omni-channel fashion retailing’s growth in China and US
O2O, New Retail, so many trendy words to describe a phenomenon that is hard to get around. Granted, it can sometimes be difficult to imagine bricks-and-mortar stores still have a future in China. That is how all-encompassing e-commerce has become in the country. But many new-generation online fashion and beauty start-ups have discovered that the next logical growth step is to take their online marketplace, well, offline.
Chinese companies scramble to take a bite of growing mooncake market pie
Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the Chinese market gets flooded with mooncakes, a kind of baked pastry that symbolizes family reunions and which is traditionally consumed as part of the celebrations. Ahead of the festival, which falls on Monday, a number of Chinese F&B companies branched out their offerings to include the round delicacy, as the mooncake market grows in the country. A piece of the pie Hot pot brand Chen JiSunhe is joining the race to the hearts and wallets of Chinese consumers during the festive season, having announced recently it will sell mooncakes for the very first time.
Coffee companies in China growing rapidly as beverage gains ground with young Chinese
In her coffee shop in downtown Beijing, Zhang Lanlan busily serves customers who stop in during lunch hour. After living in South Korea for about eight years, Zhang returned to China in 2016. Looking to start a business in the city and noting the growing popularity of coffee, she decided to open a coffee shop. The decision seems to have been a smart one, as media reports estimate that the coffee shop market in China is expected to grow to $12 billion by 2022. Of course she faces stiff competition. Starbucks came to the Chinese mainland in 1999. Currently, the
Are China’s ‘young, fresh meat’ men too feminine?
There’s an ongoing debate about masculinity and femininity across the world, and China is taking part as well. Many young Chinese women have become fans of “young fresh meat” – feminine-looking men. A Xinhua opinion piece criticized the popularity of overly feminine men – but many Chinese internet users disagreed. But what can brands learn about this phenomenon for their Digital Marketing Campaigns in China? Read the full Inkstone article here.
The Booming Male KOL Market on Little Red Book
Little Red Book, the explosively popular social e-commerce platform, is seeing new growth opportunities in the male luxury market after launching a section exclusively featuring male styles. In this article, Jing Daily lists some different types of male influencers and how luxury brands can communicate through them.
Is that a Loius Vuitton? No, it’s a Plada: China’s knock-off economy
Codiva chocolate, KLG Fried Chicken, Srutbucsk Coffee, New Bylenera sneakers. China is still coping with many stories of fake products and even complete fake stores. The brick-and-mortar stores are easier to spot and close down, but the internet is the perfect hideout. Unsurprisingly Europol estimates that 86% of fakes still originate in China. This fun article gives more interesting stats accompanied by interesting stories by the author.
Bullet Messaging reaches 4 million users in just 9 days
Exciting news this week in China’s online world about a new messaging app called Bullet Messaging (子弹短信). In only 9 days since its launch it reached 4 million active users. The app surpassed both WeChat and the popular live streaming app Douyin (Tik Tok) becoming the most downloaded social iOS app in the Chinese App Store. Is there any chance that this app becomes the next WeChat？Probably not, but it is worth keeping an eye on it.
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