Chinese consumers addicted to US ecommerce holiday season - study

Millennials represented the largest group of consumers, replacing the middle class as China’s strongest online shopping segment for cross-border purchases, accordint to a survey issued by Ant Financial Services Group’s Alipay, a payments gateway, which enables US retailers to sell and ship directly to customers in China through its Alipay ePass cross-border ecommerce solution.

The result was uncovered as part of Alipay’s early holiday shopping review conducted from November 17th through November 30th, when the company also found that total sales from China-based consumers purchasing US products through Alipay ePass increased 15 times versus 2014.

Topping the list were shoppers born in the 90s, with 34% of the shoppers born after the 90s (which increased 3 times over 2014), closely following those born in the 80s. Shoppers were predominantly female (70%), with fashion, beauty, baby products and health & wellness categories representing 75% of total transactions. Further, 80% of total transactions were made by new Alipay ePass users. Overall, the most consumption took place in Shanghai and Beijing, followed by Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.

“Among the savviest shoppers in the world, Chinese consumers are continuously seeking high quality US products and Western merchandise that they can’t find in China,” said Jingming Li, President, Alipay US. “With better logistics and localised payment options now available to make cross-border purchases, we expect this tremendous growth of Chinese consumers to continue throughout the holiday season, particularly as US ecommerce retailers provide more discounts and promotions.”

Launched in September 2014, the Alipay ePass program is a cross-border ecommerce solution that enables US retailers to sell directly to Chinese consumers using localised payments and direct shipping. Through the program, Alipay’s 400 million registered users in China can shop its retail partners’ full online assortments at the same retail prices offered to US consumers, while receiving Alipay’s delivery anywhere in China.