November 11, dubbed Singles’ Day in China, has been a day of shopping sprees for Chinese consumers since 2009. China’s booming middle class has always shown its strong consuming power on this day, and they did it again this time around.
This year’s Singles’ Day sales from China’s largest e-commerce company, Alibaba Group, amounted to USD 25.3 billion, a 40% surge from last year. The figure nearly doubled that of the combined US Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in 2016.
Secoo, China’s largest luxury products and services platform, also reported its best-performing Singles’ Day sales thanks to strong demand from the Chinese middle class and, especially, young people.
During this year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival, Secoo launched several promotions, including special discounts for new members, unlimited online auctions, and global shopping and high-end lifestyle experiences. The promotions covered all categories, and top-level watches, high-end bags, and high-quality home decor were key areas for sales. Below are the top trends and new sales records of luxury goods on the Secoo platform.
Best-selling products and brands
From November 1st to 11th, sales of luxury goods fetched high prices, going for as much as USD 570 per order on Secoo. What makes it more interesting is that first-time buyers were so generous that they accounted for the third, fifth and sixth biggest orders, among which one new customer from the city of Hangzhou spent USD 43,674 on a Patek Philippe watch while another new shopper from Gansu province poured USD 28,700 into a Rolex.
The top-five best-selling brands were GUCCI, BURBERRY, Louis Vuitton, PRADA, and Dolce&Gabbana. These performances, along with large sales of Supreme and Vetements etc., show that China’s upscale consumers are appreciating and buying fashion brands at a high clip.
Top regions and consumer habits
Customers from Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu dominated the sales-ranking list. What is noteworthy is that consumers from some less developed regions, like Tibet and Guangxi, showed astonishing interest in luxury goods. These two regions spent 40 times more during the festival than they did last year.
As to shifts in consumer habits, the in-store pick up rate has doubled comparing to last year, among which 90% of the pick-up items were watches and handbags.
Young customers were more interested in fashion brands, such as Supreme, Vetements, Coccinelle, Delavux, and ALAÏA. These less known but upscale brands become popular because their highly distinctive brand identity and designing style are attractive among young people, an analyst of customer behavior of Secoo said.
What’s more, consumers’ appetites for artwork grew too. The average price per order for artwork reached USD 1200. Orders of personalized artifacts grew 260% from October.
Chinese millennials rise in the fastest growing luxury market
These stunning purchases at the shopping festival demonstrate that sales of luxury goods have been recovering in 2017. The ‘Research Report on the Global Luxury Industry in 2017’, released by Bain & Company and Altagamma, the national luxury brand association in Italy, pointed out that the luxury industry has recovered as a whole in over the course of the year. The Report also stated that the global luxury market (including luxury cars, tourism and so on) was estimated to have grown by 5% year-on-year, reaching an output value of EUR 1.2 trillion (USD 1.4 trillion).
In particular, the Chinese luxury market is projected to increase by 15% from last year, giving it the highest growth among all markets. Its market output is expected to reach EUR 20 billion by the end of 2017.
Apart from this, statistics showed that Chinese millennials make up one third of young consumers of global luxury goods. This part of the population belongs to the ‘Internet native generation’ and depends on, as well as has a strong sense of trust in, online shopping. Therefore, these young people have become the most valuable consumers of luxury brands and luxury e-commerce.
This year’s Singles’ Day outcome once again demonstrated the strong consuming power of the Chinese middle class. Secoo said it is poised to meet the needs of more high-end customers with its combined online and offline shopping experience.
(Top photo from Secoo website)
