Chinese Consumers Getting Adventurous
Welcome to this week's skinny on China. Below you'll find a couple of articles about less mainstream and customizable products making headway in China. It's another signal that Chinese consumers are maturing and becoming increasingly adventurous, with a bigger appetite to deviate from the conformists. That's great news for niche products, especially online. It's still not easy, but it's getting easier for smaller businesses with unique products hoping to make inroads in China. Following are the usual insights into China's consumers and the Chinese market. Enjoy!
Chinese Consumers
Consumers Go Online For Unique, Custom-Made Products: Chinese consumers aren't just shopping online for bargains, they're increasingly catching on to products they can customize online.
Younger Chinese Get Feel For Debt: Are the national of savers becoming more like the rest of us? Credit card borrowing in China increased 23% from last year.
In China, Little Happiness Matters: If you do something wrong in the eyes of Chinese consumers, it takes a little more than a new slogan to turn a brand around.
Luxury Products
Niche High-End Products Beat Established Brands: It seems lesser known luxury brands are getting more of a shot in China as Chinese strive to look less like everyone else.
86% Of Chinese Consumers Refuse To Buy Products Labeled "Made in China": Further good news for exporters to China and further evidence to emphasise your foreignness and quality, especially for luxury goods.
What Luxury Turndown? Chinese Still Shopping, Brands Still Bullish On China: Although there's grim news on China's slowing growth, luxury brands are still getting on with it in China.
Health & Beauty
Beauty, Personal Care Market To Keep Growing: 2011 saw an 84% increase of online sales for beauty and personal care products in China - do you need more proof to get online in China?
Can Chinese Consumers Tell Real Or Pretended Premium Baby Care Brand From Europe?: Further evidence to be wary of fake brands competing with you in China.
Internet, eCommerce and Social Media
How To Compete In China’s E-Commerce Market: Why so many of the online giants failed in China and advice on not falling into the same trap.French Fashion Brand Sparks Social Media Firestorm With 'No Chinese' Rule: Ouch, it appears some of the French aren't as appreciative of all the French luxury sales to China as one might expect.
Cars
BMW’s Chinese Sales Jump, Reducing Concerns of Slowdown: Great news on China's car front (unless you're Japanese) - BMW, Audi and Mercedes all posted growth in September. A good sign.
That's the skinny for the week!
If you've missed earlier news or need to learn more, there's a trove of information about Chinese consumers in prior China Skinny Weeklys right here. You can have this delivered to your inbox each week by subscribing for email updates, or if social media is more your thing, please follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In or Google+, or subscribe to our RSS feed. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future articles, please let us know.
