The global chip shortage has impacted the majority of the world’s automakers and is it possibly here to stay until 2023. Many automakers have cut production and some have chosen to only produce their most profitable models. New cars are so hard to come by nowadays, many car buyers in the US have turned to used cars. But what about China? How is the world’s largest car market reacting to this phenomenon? Unlike the US and many other Western countries, China’s cultural stigma against used things has prevented the majority of car buyers from purchasing used cars in the past. Is the chip shortage ..read more

Jiao Xia (蕉下), or Banana Under, has become “China’s first sun protective stock” to file an IPO in Hong Kong. Starting with its iconic umbrella, the brand creates a sun-protective empire with over 2.4 billion RMB annual revenue. How does Jiao Xia tap into this lucrative market in China? What are some of the key takeaways brands can learn from its success? Jiao Xia and its ambassador Zhao Lusi (赵露思). Source: Weibo@蕉下BENEUNDER. About Jiao Xia Jiao Xia was founded in 2013. It specializes in sun-protective items, including umbrellas, hats, gloves, jackets, and shoes. Jiao Xia’s iconic umbrellas. So ..read more

The pet economy is rising in China. Based on iiMedia’s research, 69% of Chinese consumers raised or are raising pets currently, and another 10.8% plan to have pets in the future. It has become a trend for employees at Chinese Internet companies to bring pets to offices. Unlike in western countries, pet-friendly employers are not common in China. The culture of pets in the workplace is forming, and the related management system is not ready yet. Because of this, when pets are with humans in one place, the relationships among accompanying, management, and work create a series of new stories. A ..read more

Air fryers have become a household home appliance in China. Statistics show that the demanded quantity of air fryers in 2016 was 743k, and the number grew dramatically to 16.3 million in 2020. Air fryers also show up frequently on Chinese social media, and KOLs educate users on how to use them and showcase dishes that they make. Air fryers have become a trendy home appliance in China. Source: WeChat Official Account: 来设计. Check out why it is a big hit among Chinese consumers. You may draw some inspiration on communicating with the group, especially on how to leverage Chinese social media to cr ..read more

Presales have become a common practice on Chinese e-commerce platforms. This is especially true for some apparel stores on Taobao. It often takes 7 days, 15 days, 30 days, or even 45 days to deliver an item after consumers place an order. Some e-commerce stores even specify that “days” here means “working days.” Presales are losing consumers’ patience in China. On Little Red Book, the hashtag #讨厌预售 (I hate presales) has over 2k posts, and related content was browsed more than 600k times. @温仙女, who has over 7.7 million followers on Douyin, posted a video complaining about the presales on Taobao ..read more

In August 2021, skincare brand La Mer launched a hydrating infused emulsion in China. It quickly became the Top1 in the lotion category on Tmall, and sold over 10k bottles in a month. What makes it a learnable case study for brands is that the lotion successfully attracted new customers to La Mer. It helped raise the percentage of new customers to nearly 70%, among which was a 10% growth in the Gen Z consumer group. What marketing strategy did La Mer apply to launch this lotion? How did the lotion bring young consumers to La Mer? La Mer’s lotion is favored a lot by Gen Z in China. Source: Litt ..read more

The other day I was in the office, and my colleague excitedly shared the news that Blue Bottle Coffee would be opening on the weekend. I was confused, not knowing who the Blue Bottle Coffee was. Over the weekend, my WeChat subscription posts were bombarded by related articles of Blue Bottle Coffee. Some talked about its taste, and more were analyzing the reasons behind its overwhelming popularity in China. Curious about the brand, I researched and decided to find out what made people wait in line for eight hours on its first day. The long line at the Blue Bottle Coffee Shanghai store on its op ..read more

For almost two decades, China’s domestic passenger car sales volume has continued to rise, and the auto industry has seen rapid development. However, since 2018, the sales volume of the passenger car market has slowed down, and sales have been declining for the past three years. Seeking new areas of growth has become a common concern among automotive manufacturers. Tapping into the growing percentage of Gen Z buyers appears to be where the next opportunity lies. Recently, Ipsos and B-Insights released the Gen Z Automotive Preferences Insights Report (Z时代汽车观洞察报告) which shares some key trends re ..read more

ByteDance, the parent company of short video platform Douyin, has great ambitions to develop Douyin’s role in China’s e-commerce industry. It launched flagship stores on the platform earlier this year and went all in for this year’s 618 shopping festival. To drive even more consumption on the platform, Douyin has created its own shopping festival: 818 (August 18). It is sandwiched between China’s two major shopping festivals, 618 and Double 11. The first-ever 818 shopping festival was last year, right after Douyin launched e-commerce features on the platform. So this was Douyin 818’s second ye ..read more

We typically do not associate the word hypercar with China. It is a word almost exclusively reserved for the Italians. For many decades and even now, China has always been associated with cheap consumer goods. But with China’s automotive boom, more Chinese manufacturers are targeting the top one percent of the market share, and one of these is the Silk-FAW joint venture that has announced it is building China’s first ever street legal hypercar, the S9. Silk-FAW Hongqi S9. source China is Building its Hypercar in Italy The S9 is a joint venture between the start-up Silk EV and the Chinese autom ..read more