As the Lantern Festival approaches—the first major traditional festival after Chinese New Year—new research from Mintel reveals that food is the biggest spending focus for Chinese consumers during traditional Chinese festivals.
It found 67% of urban Chinese consumers buy festive foods during festivals, followed by 65% choosing in-home food.
The survey was conducted on 3,000 internet users in tier 1-3 Chinese cities aged 20-49, in October 2017.
The social aspect of food is also important as 61% of consumers say they spend more on eating out during festivals.
Consumers love festivals as they create opportunities for interaction with others.
Some 61% of urban Chinese consumers say that catering for the festival tradition is the key factor encouraging them to buy products during festivals compared to other times of the year.
Another 52% states gifting as the key factor.
“A major emphasis of traditional festival shopping is food and fun,” said Matthew Crabbe, regional trends director.
“Festivals offer a unique opportunity for retailers and brands to conjure up some magic by creating fun and entertaining ways for consumers to celebrate festivals, give gifts, treat themselves and share good times with friends and family.”
“All retailers need to achieve this is solid knowledge about the lifestyles and ‘retailtainment’ (mixture of retail and entertainment) interests of their customers, and the imagination to come up with interesting new ideas.”
Apart from traditional festival shopping, urban consumers are also welcoming online shopping festivals.
When it comes to future online shopping festival spending intentions, it is apparent that most consumers expect to spend more on most types of products and services in the coming 12 months.
About 57% of respondents would love to buy more fashion, footwear and accessories, followed by in-home food (47%) and eating out (42%) during the next online shopping festivals.
There is some resistance to online shopping festivals though, with 45% of urban consumers unwilling to spend more during these occasions, instead, preferring to shop for things as and when they need them.
