(Photo/pixabay.com)

As the new semester begins, many freshmen are choosing to shop online for college necessities. Besides traditional digital products such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, young consumers also showed their preference for fashionable products.

Sales of segways and e-book readers skyrocketed two weeks before the start of term, while sales of eye and neck massagers doubled in the same period, according to data from Tmall, China's leading online shopping platform.

Young people's interest in fashionable products also manifests in culture and tourism. The recent hit TV series The Longest Day in Chang'an (now Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi province) caused many young people to travel to the city.

They also grow fond of diversified and individualized cultural and recreational products. This age group is willing to spend money on various products that they like, such as video games, TV series, novels and music. Moreover, they prefer customized trips in small groups that provide better traveling experiences and suit their personal needs.

Growing up in the internet era, young people tend to shop online for fashionable and individualized products. Statistics show that a total of 847 million Chinese people used mobile phones to access the internet as of June 2019.

Combined with big data and cloud computing, mobile internet allows manufacturers to produce new products that suit the demands of young consumers, further driving economic growth, said Zhao Ping, director of the international trade research department of the Academy of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.