China’s e-commerce market continues to see high double-digit growth year on year. The Double 11 event on 11 November 2017 – also known as Singles’ Day, when single people in China celebrate, and which has become a popular shopping holiday – was a clear example of how China’s consumption-led economy is evolving digitally. Online marketplace Alibaba saw sales growth of 39% in comparison with the event in 2016, suggesting that Chinese consumers are confident in their spending and that consumption will continue to rise.
China: a booming market
China’s economy continues to grow steadily as it ended 2017 with GDP at 6.8%, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). In line with this positive momentum, at Nielsen we saw China’s consumer confidence index (CCI) reach a historic high of 114 points in both the third and fourth quarters of 2017, up two points from the second quarter of 2017 and six points from 108 in the fourth quarter of 2016.
CCI scores above and below 100 points represent, respectively, positive and negative consumer confidence. An all-time high CCI, coupled with healthy disposable income growth of 7.5%, as reported by the NBS, means that consumers are confident and consumer demand or consumption is expected to remain steady. We see consumption increasing as consumers in China spend more than ever: 43% more compared with five years ago. That’s leagues ahead of the 24% growth in the US and 33% globally.
This was excerpted from a 31 January 2018 article by the World Economic Forum.