Growth in male spending under spotlight during 'Double 11'

During the "Double 11" shopping festival, transaction volumes and the number of orders hit new highs across China's e-commerce platforms, highlighting the robust recovery of consumption in the country.

According to data from Chinese e-commerce giant Tmall, the transaction volume of 402 brands on its platform has surpassed 100 million yuan (about $13.7 million) as of Saturday. Among them, about 60 percent are domestic brands. Meanwhile, the transaction of over 38,000 brands achieved a remarkable year-on-year growth of over 100 percent.

Male spending power during this year's "Double 11" shopping festival has garnered attention due to its rapid growth. According to Tmall, the top three products for male consumers in this year's shopping spree are road bicycles, e-sports products and outdoor jackets, with sales increases of 305 percent, 114 percent and 90 percent, respectively.

Male consumers in China have long ranked at the bottom of the market value chain after females, children, the elderly, and even pets. Experts analyzed that male consumption has been underestimated in China in the past, and the market sector is showing strong momentum as male purchasing behaviors change.

Fu Yifu, an analyst at the Suning Institute of Finance, a research institution at Suning Finance, said the scale of male consumption will see a continuous increase as male consumers' income rise and young people delay marriage.

Industry insiders predict that male consumption will provide business opportunities for segments such as clothing, electronic devices, games, new energy vehicles, and even beauty products.

First launched in 2009, "Double 11," or the Chinese version of Black Friday, was previously an annual one-day online shopping festival that falls on November 11 in China. Yet over time, the event has been extended to several weeks as both sellers and buyers increase.

Another Chinese e-commerce giant, JD.com, also revealed that over 300 brands recorded transactions surpassing 100 million yuan during the online shopping spree, with 20 percent of them exceeding 1 billion yuan.

This year, Chinese brands are highly sought after by consumers, especially young buyers. High-quality products of domestic brands sell well on JD.com, which said young people from Gen Z are the primary buyers of these products, with their spending on domestic brands accounting for 62 percent of their total consumption.

Domestic brands occupy 11 of the top 20 brands in online retail sales during this shopping season, according to the China International Electronic Commerce Center Research Institute.

Data from e-commerce platforms also show that the sales of smart household products have increased significantly during this online shopping festival. For example, transaction volumes of smart door locks and height-adjustable desks have increased by more than 100 percent compared to 2022.

At the same time, the sportswear market has experienced explosive growth, and the year-on-year sales growth of sportswear for cycling, skiing, and outdoor sports has reached 300 percent.

The vitality of China's consumer market this season has also been felt in the delivery industry. The number of parcels handled in the first 11 days of November totaled 5.3 billion, jumping 23 percent, according to the State Post Bureau. The country's postal delivery companies handled 639 million parcels nationwide on November 11, an increase of 16 percent from last year.