“After years of massive double-digit GDP growth, China’s economy finally slowed down to a more steady and healthy growth driven mainly by a continuous increase in consumption rather than investment. This, coupled with the continuous income growth, has strengthened consumers’ optimistic outlook for their financial situations in the future and allows them to spend more on both products and services to enjoy a higher quality of life.
This report examines consumer spending patterns in 2014 and analyses the growth potential for different consumer market segments including in-home food and beverages, foodservice, beauty and personal care products, pharmaceutical products, clothing and accessories, home and household care products, technology and communication, leisure and entertainment, transportation and holidays as well as spending on housing and personal finances.
In almost all of the consumer market segments listed above, the lucrative opportunities have been attracting an increasing number of brands – both Chinese and international. This report also conducts in-depth consumer analysis to identify the opportunities and main challenges for Chinese and international brands respectively.”
Methodology
This is a market intelligence report published by Mintel. The consumer research exclusively commissioned for this report was conducted by a Chinese licensed market survey agent (see Research Methodology China for more information).
For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned a quantitative research survey carried out online to explore Chinese consumers’ (internet users aged 20-49 living in tier one to three cities) aspirations and their attitudes towards their general lifestyle.
Fieldwork was conducted in December 2014, in four tier one cities and six tier two and three cities of 3,000 internet users. The tier one cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. The tier two and three cities are Changchun, Zibo, Nanjing, Jinhua, Xiamen and Xi’an.
Mintel has used a combination of sources to arrive at its assessment in the changes in consumption patterns across four countries (UK, US, China, Brazil). It has taken the granular or “bottom up” approach by summing up the components of the segments. For FMCG areas (food, drink, beauty and personal care, OTC & pharmaceuticals and household) it has relied on the extensive range of market sizes and segments published by Mintel. These have been supplemented with data from official sources, such as household budget surveys and national accounts, to fill in those areas, usually non-branded and/or unpackaged, not covered.
For other areas there has been more reliance on official sources and trade associations, although Mintel research has still supplied valuable guidance in terms of volume trends, ownership, and financial data. Inevitably some assumptions have been made based on analyst insight and interpretation of existing statistics.
The outcome of this analysis provides a unique view of consumption patterns and compare and contrast how the markets have evolved and highlight the future opportunities and threats.
Unless otherwise stated, photographs in this report were taken by Mintel analysts.
Abbreviations
| ABV | Alcohol By Volume |
| B2C | Business to Customer (Consumer) |
| BAT | Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent |
| C2C | Customer (Consumer) to Customer (Consumer) |
| CAGR | Compound Annual Growth Rate |
| CCTV | China Central Television |
| CIRC | China Insurance Regulatory Commission |
| CNNIC | China Internet Network Information Center |
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