China’s homegrown brands win popularity among young consumers

China’s homegrown brands are changing the consumption trends in the country and winning consumers, especially the younger generations.

The emergence of new Chinese brands, which often incorporate Chinese traditional culture and style, is a fundamental change in the domestic consumption landscape, according to an industrial report on the consumption trend amid this year’s 618 mid-year shopping festival released by a shopping website of Beijing Zhidemai Technology Co., Ltd., a listed company.

A model presents a creation of Chinese sportswear brand Lining in an event held in Dunhuang, northwest China’s Gansu province on Aug. 27, 2020. (Photo/Wang Xuechun)

The report indicated that more consumers were adding new domestic brands to their virtual shopping cart for the mid-year shopping season.

According to Alibaba Group's online marketplace Tmall, more and more young Chinese consumers favor domestic brands for their new image and ever-improving quality.

Young consumers, who pursue individuality, have diversified interests and enjoy social interaction, have an attachment to domestic brands, leading to the rise of time-honored Chinese brands, as well as new domestic brands. To “woo” Generation Z, domestic names are building greater affinity within them through co-branding strategies and online advertising.

Domestic products are now seeing a boost in sales volumes. Chinese cosmetic brands Perfect Diary and Chando, were both listed on JD.com’s top 10 favorite homegrown brands in 2021, the country’s e-commerce giant said at a meeting before it kicked off this year’s mid-year shopping festival.

In east China’s Zhejiang province, the sales of domestic sportswear brands in Hangzhou Wulin Intime Department Store, a flagship store of the famous Chinese department store chain Intime Retail, soared by 500 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year. Modeling this, in the first six months of this year, the sales of Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning were six times higher than the volume from the same period last year.

According to an expert, China’s growing economic strength and Chinese people’s boosted self-confidence are the fundamental reasons behind the emergence of new domestic brands, while the complete and efficient industrial and supply chains of consumer goods provide a solid guarantee for the rise of new homegrown brands.