Chinese women are now spending big on themselves and no one else, according to a report looking at the consumer behaviours of female online shoppers that was published by China’s e-commerce giant JD.com on the eve of International Women’s Day.
Although household spending remains a crucial component of the overall consumption amongst women, spending by these consumers has shown more diversity with the purpose of self-expression, and more importantly, making themselves happy is becoming a priority. This reflects not only a diverse role that today’s Chinese women play but also a growing interest and courage to explore a true and new self.
It is reported that over half (54%) of the total purchases made by Chinese women in 2021 went towards goods and services that were used to please the female buyers themselves. This is a nearly three-fold year-on-year increase with educational training, local lifestyle consumption, travelling, and health services seeing the fastest growth, indicating their strong pursuits of self-improvement and a positive lifestyle.
Moreover, the younger generation of female consumers is also challenging the traditional picture of Chinese women through their heavy investment in products that were once only associated with male consumers. Sales of strength training equipment on JD.com saw a year-on-year increase of 65%, with flexi bars, hand grips, pull straps, horizontal bars, and shot put seeing the highest in demand.
In addition, with a 4-fold increase in sales, smart devices have also become another sought-after purchase, especially among female consumers aged between 46 and 55. Among them, exercise trackers and smartwatches enjoyed significant popularity, while Virtual Reality (VR) goggles, drones, and AI robots were the go-to for female technology lovers.
Such a trend shows that products with high-tech are no longer exclusive to the tech-savvy, young generations but also win over older consumers with their unique consumer experience, enabling female consumers to redefine what women could be like in today’s China.
