Chinese Brands Showed Up Strong in This Year’s 11.11

We focus heavily on the rise of domestic brands or the Guochao (国潮) trend over here at China Marketing Insights, so we wanted to point out the impressive performance of Chinese brands during the 2020 Singles Day shopping festival.

We’re not surprised that they performed so well. Consumers’ opinions of Chinese brands has drastically changed over the past few years. According to a survey done prior to 11.11 by the global consulting firm AlixPartners, 66% of consumers said they would purchase domestic brands during this Double 11. The survey was conducted from September 30 to October 6 and had 2,029 participants.

From official brands rankings published by Global E-businessmen 天下网商, a media outlet owned by Alibaba, Chinese brands indeed made great progress this year. For example, in the food category, among the top 10 brands, 8 of them are domestic brands. One of them, BE&CHEERY is only six years old, founded in 2014. The top brand in the category was the liquor brand Maotai, which has seen a resurgence in popularity this year.

Similar results occurred in the underwear category. Among the top 10 brands, 9 of them are domestic brands. This is partly because domestic brands understand Chinese consumers’ body shapes better than international brands.

Other than these industries, Chinese brands performed well in both the men and women’s apparel categories, house appliances and the auto industry. But when it comes to the sports & outdoor equipment, skincare and watch categories, markets are still dominated by foreign brands.

In general, domestic brands are booming because of the improving quality, targeted marketing strategies, rapid product development, and because they understand Chinese consumers better.

Stay tuned for more in-depth articles on how specific domestic brands perform during this Double 11 in the following weeks!

Read more: 天猫双11终极榜单