China Online Retail Market in 1st Quarter Remaining the Same as Last Year

On April 23, 2020, the Ministry of Commerce of China held a regular press conference. From January to March this year, the scale of China’s online retail market was basically the same as last year. Among them, the “house economy” has become a hot spot in the market.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the nationwide online retail sales amounted to 2.2 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 0.8%, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points from the previous two months. The promotion effect of online retail on consumption has been further enhanced, accounting for 23.6% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods, an increase of 5.4 percentage points from the same period last year.

Big data monitoring shows that there were more than 4 million live broadcasts of e-commerce in the first quarter. More than 100 county heads and mayors walked into the webcast room to “endorse” local products. Household items, kitchenware, fitness equipment, etc. are favored by consumers, with a year-on-year increase of more than 40%. Sales of home office products such as laptops, printers, and keyboards also increased by more than 10%.