by Ling Cao and Yuchuan Wang

On May 4^th, JD published its report on youth (defined as 16-35 years old) consumption. According to report, the youth generation are becoming the main purchasing power for families and are hard-working, while spend more on entertainment, especially for the post-1995 generation, who spent 21.1% on work and 26.69% on entertainment consumption, which is higher than the post-1985 generation, who spent 13.07% and 16.02% respectively. From January to April, the top categories for youth consumption are snacks, mobile phone accessories, grains, oils and seasoning, household paper products, and diapers and wipes.

Although the dogs and cats market has been impacted by COVID-19, other pet categories have performed well, including birds, turtles and insects. The growth of purchases in these categories by the youth generation is 10% higher than that of the platform average. As for flowers and plants, the sales growth from the post-1995 generation increased 35% y-o-y, and was higher than the post-1985 generation.

The youth generation is more willing to spend money on electronics and gaming products. Sales of gaming products from January to April increased 270% y-o-y. In addition, computers increased 35%, mobile phones increased nearly 30% and gaming equipment increased by 40%.

The post-1985 generation has the highest y-o-y growth rate for book consumption basket size, with female consumption at 27% higher than the platform average. The post-1985 generation are buying the most in the fitness products category, while the post-1995 generation have the highest growth rate in the category. Haircare products was the only category where post-1985 consumption was higher than post-1995.

(ling.cao@jd.com; yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

As travel restrictions due to COVID-19 eased across China ahead of the 5-day May Day holiday, pent up Chinese consumer demand for daily necessities, home appliances and outdoor activities products resulted in a significant boost in sales. On May 1^st, about 30,000 customers visited JD E-Space, JD’s 50,000-square-meter shopping destination in Chongqing, China, with sales on the day reaching RMB 14 million yuan.

While more people gathered with their friends and relatives during the holiday, the sales of wine, Chinese liquor (baijiu), beer and imported liquor have all increased. For example, according to the data from JD Super, JD’s online supermarket, the sales of Dassai increased 6.6 times y-o-y while the sales of Hennessey increased over three times y-o-y. Also, the sale of cooking oil was 2.5 times same period last year.

Parents saw the holiday as an excellent opportunity to get the children out of the house. JD Super’s data shows that ales of children’s scooters increased 250% y-o-y, and sales of children’s electric cars from FUERBO increased 470% y-o-y. Food supplements also did well, with the American brand Earth’s Best experiencing a 300% y-o-y sales increase.

The demand for home appliances also went up. During a May 1^st promotion, according to JD data, the whole day sales for home appliances was twice that of the same day last year. The epidemic has caused people to see home appliances that handle sterilization as must-haves. On May 1^st, the sales of sterilization air conditioners and refrigerators increased four times and 80 times, respectively. With people moving about more freely, the demand for indoor installment and repair of home appliances also rose.

As the quarantine was lifted in Beijing on April 29^th, the sales of products related to outdoor activities and service products subsequently increased in the city. Data from JD’s Big Data Research Institute has shown that on this day, the sales of outdoor equipment increased by 249% and cycling products by 117% compared to average sales in April. Sports-related services, such as venue reservation services increased 655%. JD’s offline stores also experienced sales increases. Orders for car repairs, maintenance and cleaning increased 2.5 times in JD Auto Service, JD’s offline automobile repair stores. In JD’s 7FRESH stores, sales of beverages and food boxes, barbecue, and beer were over double that of average daily sales.

On May 2^nd, JD launched a ‘Super Hubei Day’ – its first Super Brand Day for a Chinese province – to promote local food in partnership with local brands, including crawfish, oranges, duck eggs and others. JD also provided resources to support fresh food brands in Hubei, leveraging livestreaming to increase sales.

(liuchang61@jd.com)