China’s Changing Retail Landscape
China has one of the highest online population in the world. As of July 2013 industry reports revealed, China’s population of internet users has grown to 591 million, driven by a 20 per cent rise over the past year in the number of people who surf the web from smartphones and other wireless devices. China Internet Network Information Center reports that as of June 30 2013, 271 million people in China are shopping online.
China’s children and baby products retail landscape is fast changing. With the fast growth of e-commerce, key players of China’s children baby and maternity products are launching online stores. According to Children Baby Maternity Products Industry Report, 71% of brand owners in the industry have launched online stores, while for retailers the number is only 32%.
Research shows the five reasons why retailers and some distributors are trailing behind the implementation of e-business.
Chart 1: China Retailers’ Top Concerns about E-commerce1
Despite the cited reasons, e-business in on the rise in the children baby industry. New generation parents in China are looking beyond traditional channels like department stores and retail shops to purchase children products. They are willing to experiment and look into the convenience of online shopping. In 2012 alone, the children baby and maternity products industry accounted for USD 10 billion revenue online in China, representing 12.2% of the total revenue in the industry.2
Changing consumer purchase behavior will slowly get brand owners, distributors and suppliers to expand to the online marketplace.
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*Source: (1) UBM China (Hangzhou) Industry Research, July 2013
(2) iResearch E-commerce Research on Children, Baby and Maternity Industry, October 2013
