China’s single boom: a new biz opportunity

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When all business fight tooth and nail for couples’ spending on Chinese Valentine’s Day, Alipay, one of China’s major mobile payment tools, recommended “A shelter book for singles” to its app users, listing restaurants suitable for single people to eat alone.

It is not the only one who did not miss China’s growing single population. China’s serious gender gap, women’s higher education level, as well as changing perception on marriage lead to a demographic shift.

A single boom

Office data shows that China’s unmarried adults population reached 200 million by the end of 2015, which is triple of UK’s population.

China’s gender gap, partly caused by Chinese families’ traditional favor for boys, contributed to the single boom.

The ratio of men and women born in 1980s is 136:100, according to data from National Bureau of Statistics, while the normal range standard set by the UN lies between 102:100 to 107:100.

Parents gather in a park in Shanghai to search spouses for their single children. / VCG Photo

Among the singletons, 77 million people are living alone and the number is set to rise to 92 million by 2021, according to official data compiled by consultancy Euromonitor.

The rising number of singletons comes with a strong spending power.

China’s average monthly disposable income in 2016 was about 2,000 yuan, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in February.

But more than half of China’s singletons have a higher disposable income between 3,000 to 5,000 yuan, according to data from an online matchmaker website, Baihe.com.

A new consumption trend

With a growing population with a higher-than-average disposable income, singletons have been a target of businesses who are willing to offer tailored products and service.

One of the most well-known examples is a Chinese hot pot chain restaurant offering large plush toys to accompany solo diners who come to have the usually communal Chinese dish alone.

A hot pot store in Beijing offers a toy bear to accompany a solo diner. / CGTN Photo

In addition, the supply of single-pack products jumped by 560 percent in 2016, according to a consumption research jointly released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Alibaba.

Coming from China’s neighbor Japan which has experienced severe low marriage rate, chain store MUJI has introduced a serious of products aiming at singles in China, including smaller rice cookers, ovens and kettles.

Chinese market gave positive response.

The BCG and Alibaba joint research reported 190 million yuan revenue for the mini-size juicers and 1 billion yuan for mini-size washing machines last year.

China’s Internet-based food delivery service, which is strongly backed by singletons that rarely cook, also benefits from the trend.

The total transaction revenue is estimated to reach 204.56 billion yuan in the first half of 2017, 23.1 percent up year-on-year, according to data from iiMedia Research.

Singleton’s leisure spending is also on the rise. The number of people traveling alone in China surged from 8.3 percent in 2014 to 15 percent to 2016 with an age range between 19 to 30 years old, said a report released by travel service website Ctrip.com.

The BCG and Alibaba research summarized the singleton consumption as a “self-enjoyment business model” which represents a promising market for all kinds of products and services such as dining, traveling, living and rental, designed for single consumers.

“Most of Chinese single consumers closely follow the trend and like new experience,” said Ma Zichun, an analyst at marketing consultancy Mintel, noting brands who want to win the singletons can invest more in building better experience for them.