Category
Suning acquired 37 department stores from the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group at the beginning of 2019 and paid RMB 4.8 billion for an 80% stake in hypermarket operator Carrefour China last month. Also, Suning Xiaodian, the convenience store arm of online retailer Suning.com, has acquired 61 Circle K outlets.
INSIGHT & IMPLICATION: Suning has always been the top player in China’s home appliances retail due to its mature brick-and-mortar distribution including national and local chains, Shangchao department stores and others. Its developed network has made Suning a go-to retailer for home appliances. Now, in order to push its omnichannel strategy, Suning has expanded its offline retail offering to further include department stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores by acquiring new assets. Furthermore, Suning has also invested more in logistics, finance, technology and other retail infrastructural elements to support its further omnichannel retail development. Brands should consider how to utilize Suning’s omnichannel retail ecosystem to achieve their marketing and business objectives and build seamless, engaging brand experiences that will set it apart from competitors. click for more…
Consumer
China’s pet retail industry was valued at RMB 170.8 billion in 2018, with cat owners spending RMB 65.2 billion on food, snacks and care products as well as spa and medical services. That means, on average, each cat owner spent RMB 4,311 in 2018, meaning cat food alone accounts for about 44% of that expenditure.
INSIGHT & IMPLICATION: In spite of its rapid growth, China’s pet industry is still in the early stage of development. Pet-related businesses such as food processing, eCommerce, and pet clinic chains are booming and many consumers think the expenditure for pets is a small price to pay for having the emotional support and companionship compared with a family or having children. This is why young people often treat their pets like their children and are willing to spend more on them. In the next stage, all products related to pets are likely to premiumize because of the wish of pet owners to bring the best to their beloved companions. Pet owners tend to join WeChat groups and follow specific Official Accounts, sharing with each other the products they purchase, so to precisely target them, WeChat could be the right channel to get to know them. This market represents an important opportunity for brands because of the early development stage, so being highly responsive is of the essence in exploiting this opportunity and finding a new source of business growth. In addition, the emotional attachment of the consumers to their pets can be used as a creative element in brand communications to reach these people more effectively not only by brands in the pet care segment but also in many other categories, including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), automobile and others. click for more…
Culture
Bilibili recorded revenues of RMB 1.37 billion in 2019 Q1, a 58% YOY growth. Gaming and livestreaming (up 27% and 205% respectively) accounted for most of the growth, with gaming revenues alone representing over 50% of Bilibili’s total revenue for the quarter.
INSIGHT & IMPLICATION: Most users start conversations on short video platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou, while among video-sharing platforms, Bilibili is somewhat overlooked by brands. This platform is more than just Gen-Z ACG video content platform – it is where users deeply engage both with the content itself and fellow users. What creates this high degree of loyalty among Bilibili users is first, the wide range of content including both mainstream and non-mainstream anime. The second is a number of features inspiring engagement and enjoyment such as ‘bullet’ messages streamed across the screen in response to live videos, chat posts, and users’ own Moments commenting on and liking contributions by other users. In 2019 Q1, Bilibili reported over 1.4 billion such engagements. Away from ACG, Bilibili also has sections about beauty, fashion, entertainment and digital. Users livestream their thoughts and comments on all those subjects, which really brings brands opportunities to work with those popular Uploaders (Bilibili’s KOLs). Brands targeting China’s GenZ should consider how they can enhance the experience of the Bilibili audience further and how they can become a part of the conversation of these highly-engaged users. click for more…
Media
Last week, the WeChat team announced a new type of WeChat Moment ads to allow a shortened ad delivery within a minimum of 4 hours (it was previously no shorter than a 12-hour ad delivery). Skincare brand Olay has utilized this ad type and gained 38% higher CTR than regular delivery.
INSIGHT & IMPLICATION: This new ad type with limited time is suitable for new product launches, variety dramas, live broadcasts and limited time snaps. Tencent also recently launched a live broadcasting tool for WeChat Official Accounts, and this ad type can be utilized for live broadcast eCommerce sales. For example, Olay launched a new Day and Night cream for young women working late. In order to reach them more effectively, they only placed this ad on Friday night (20:00-24:00) and early morning (00.00 – 04:00), which perfectly communicated the idea of “save the weekend for dating” to address the pain points of young female consumers enjoying nightlife. These WeChat Moment ads, if executed properly, can help brands target their consumers more precisely at the right moment, increase engagement and eventually lead to sales conversion. click for more…
Have a great weekend!
