Understanding China's Pet Market's Runaway Growth
A quick Google image search for 'dogs in China' will return row after row of horrifying snaps that you wouldn't show your kids. Yet the reality is quite different in most of China's cities.
Wandering through urban Chinese streets it is hard for even the most macho of men not to find China's pets adorable. Poodles sporting puffer jackets jostle for pavement space with pugs wearing penny loafers. China's immaculately groomed pooches would leave many folk in Western cities for dead on the fashion stakes, representative of just how much Chinese dote on their pets.
China’s pets, numbering more than 100 million, have become the centre of one of the country’s fastest growing retail categories. Last year Chinese consumers spent ¥122 billion ($18 billion) on pets and related purchases, with spending expected to rise on average 20.5% each year between 2017 and 2020 - around double retail growth overall. It is no surprise given 99.8% are prepared to spend on their pets; 40.9% take their dogs to a beauty salon, 25% pay someone to wash their pets and 4.5% have had professional photos with them. Although the hounds have more profile, average spending on felines is even higher.
China's pet industry has a lot of similarities to other categories. For a start, the majority of owners aren't empty nesting oldies with a lot of time on their hands, but the urban female millennials who are driving China's overall retail sector. Two thirds of pet owners are female and 73.2% are aged 20-35 according to Goumin.
It's little wonder pets are pampered so much in China. 41.4% of owners are single and 23.8% are married without kids, so in many ways the bichon frises and shih tzus are the child of the house. China Skinny sees pet owners showing much of the same buyer behaviour as Chinese parents do with their precious child. Pet food is a good example, where many owners have a strong resistance to additives with natural food accounting for quarter of the market and growing at 55% a year. The need for quality sees foreign brands account for the majority of the market.
Like every category, Chinese do their research to get the best product for their furry friends. 46.9% actively search for product information, with product quality and what others say about the products being what owners care about most, ahead of price.
One recent development in the pet industry is relevant across most industries in China. An online pet food vendor in China has been successfully sued by Alibaba for selling fake Royal Canin cat food on its Taobao platform. It is the first ruling of its kind and, whilst only a spit in the sea, it will hopefully be followed by many more, possibly making counterfeiters think twice before selling fakes online.
Here are this week's news and highlights for China:
Pets
Can China Become Top Dog in Pet Ownership?: With more than 100 million pets, motivations differ among Chinese pet owners. For some, it is a sign of reaching the middle class and giving off the impression of being stable with spare time and money. Yet most are young and single and unlikely to have time on their hands.
The Rise of Luxury Pet Hotels: China's 'cat slaves' are increasingly buying cakes for their feline friends and treating them to plush lodgings.
It’s Dog Eat Dog as China Declares War on Man’s Best Friend ... and His Owner: To control the burgeoning dog population and maintain safety and hygiene standards, several cities are enforcing or amending rules for keeping pet dogs, restricting the number, size and species of dogs. Qingdao recently banned the raising of 40 species and limited the number of pet dogs to one per household. From September, Hangzhou will only allow 34 species of dogs which are below 45cm tall and 60cm long in downtown areas.
Chinese Consumers
Sorry Haters, Your China Hard Landing Has Been Postponed Again: China's per capita urban household income rose 6.5% in the first half, up from a 5.8% growth rate during the first half of 2016. Consumption accounted for 63.4% of GDP growth in the first half of 2017. China's central bank has $3 trillion sitting in reserves - more money tucked away to defend its currency and economy from crises than the entire GDP of the UK, France, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Sweden, Australia and almost every other G20 member.
Digital China
Taobao Wins Landmark Case Against Vendor that Sells Fake Cat Food on its Platform: A Shanghai court has ordered an online pet food vendor to compensate Alibaba ¥120,000 ($17,850) for selling fake Royal Canin cat food on Taobao in the first ruling of its kind. Taobao is currently battling another two online shops in court for selling fake Wuliangye liquor and counterfeit Swarovski wrist watches. Small wins, but a step in the right direction.
China’s Digital Economy: A Leading Global Force: Nearly one in five Internet users in China relies on mobile only, compared with just 5% in the US. The share of Internet users in China making mobile digital payments is around 68%, compared with only around 15% in the US. China’s three Internet giants are building a rich digital ecosystem that is now spreading beyond them. Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent provided 42% of all venture-capital investment in China.
Chinese Online Shoppers Show Strong Demand for Australian Goods: 81% of Chinese online shoppers have purchased Australian products in the past 12 months, estimating to have spent ¥4,895 ($728) each on Australian goods according to FedEx Australia research. Dairy products were perceived to be ‘world-class’ by 58%, with 39% thinking the same of health supplements and pharmaceutical products, 31% for baby products, 25% for skincare products, 24% for fresh seafood and meat, and 20% for fresh fruit, vegetables and wine.
Tencent Literature Unit Eyes Up to $800 Million for IPO, Report Says: Tencent's China Reading said its revenue rose 59.1% last year to ¥2.6 billion ($382 million). China is one of the world’s largest markets for online literature, fuelled by a young generation that likes to read novels and other short-form literature on their smartphones and other portable devices.
Food & Beverage
Take a Tour of Hema Supermarket and Experience 'New Retail': 3 minute video of Hema Supermarket, showing how Alibaba is merging online and offline shopping into a seamless “New Retail” experience.
Banking & Investments
This Chinese Credit Card Company Plans On Outsmarting Tencent And Alipay With A More Secure Product: Credit card use in China has risen from five million in 2002 to 300 million at present. From what China Skinny has observed, increased cross border shopping and international travel has been a key driver for uptake among millennials, allowing them to book trips online and use it in-country.
How China’s Risk Crackdown Will Hit Manhattan’s Property Market: Beijing's crusade against capital outflows and leverage will likely spur an 84% slump in Chinese overseas property investment this year, and a further 18% drop in 2018 according to Morgan Stanley. The US, UK, HK, and Australia are most exposed. 30% of transactions in Manhattan have involved Chinese parties in 2017 and 25% in Australia.
Sports
China’s Sport Sector Could be the Next Big Growth Market: Spending on sport-related entertainment goods and services grew 17.1% in the first half on year, outpacing 10.4% growth in consumer spending overall. China is on track to meet its target to more than triple its sports industry from ¥1.5 trillion ($223 billion) last year, to ¥5 trillion ($744 billion) by 2025. In order to meet its target, China will need to add 700 million sqm of sports facilities. China plans to build 100 towns dedicated as centres of sporting excellence for various disciplines in coming years.
Luxury
In China, Designer Goods Delivered to Your Doorstep: JD is differentiating its delivery and improving the experience for online luxury goods with delivery men who wear black suits, dark grey ties and white gloves and drive electric cars, making 1-2 deliveries in the time normal couriers would take 150. On the subject, Saint Laurent is launching online sales in China through JD's partner Farfetch and Alibaba has launched a new Tmall luxury pavilion.
Infographic: Affluent Fashion Trends UK versus China: Wealthy Chinese rate the importance of good style/fashion a 4.73/5 versus 3.85/5 in the UK. Chinese are more likely to purchase luxury at a brand store, whereas Brits will at a department store. Brand heritage is most important for Chinese, whereas quality is in the UK. More Chinese would prefer extra free time over money, whereas the Brits would take the cash according to RCR.
Cars
Tmall Wants to Bring 'Car Vending Machines' to China: Consumers would browse the cars stored in the massive garage-like structure on their smartphones, make their purchase, and then the cars would be delivered to them at ground level. This follows the June launch of Alibaba's new retail model allowing anyone with a good score on Alibaba’s credit-scoring system Sesame to select a model online, pay a 10% initial fee and pick up their new car, with monthly payments after that.
