Since 2020, the epidemic has accelerated the increase in the penetration rate of online shopping around the world, and the cross-border e-commerce industry is at an all-time high. Recently, JD Global and JDR JD User Research Department jointly launched the “2022 Overseas, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Consumption Trend Insights”.
The insight report is based on JD.com’s in-depth insights into Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas consumer demand, and reveals the trend of consumers’ cross-border shopping needs from the perspectives of overseas markets, user groups and consumer preferences.
The scale of cross-border e-commerce continues to grow
According to the report, the scale of cross-border e-commerce has increased by nearly 10 times in the past five years. In 2021 alone, the scale of China’s cross-border e-commerce imports and export has reached 1.92 trillion yuan. Mature regional markets such as the USA also have strong demand for cross-border e-commerce, and openness to international sellers also fosters cross-border online shopping habits of local users.
Status of overseas consumers
Traditionally overseas countries prefer physical activities to online. However, due to the pressure of epidemic prevention in various regions in the past two years, outdoor activities are generally limited, and many users have a trend of moving online for entertainment and will pass their leisure time through e-commerce.
Some of China’s users living in overseas areas still retain the habit of using large-scale application platforms in China. Although the number of overseas application platform channels has increased, they still mainly use top APPs, such as WeChat, Douyin, JD.com, WeChat etc.
Purchasing habits and demands of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan consumers
Cross-border online purchases by consumers from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are mainly daily purchases (41.8%), purchasing for relatives and friends (37.1%) and promotional purchases (21.1%). The daily purchase needs are based on timeliness commitments or after-sales service, the purchasing needs for relatives and friends are mainly family accounts or children’s shopping carts, and promotional purchases focus on shipping or regional discounts.
Users have the highest purchasing demand for food and beverage, computer appliances, medical care and other categories, which are the main products for cross-border online shopping. Compared with users’ purchase behaviour in China, the proportion of orders in the above categories is also higher.
(Data source: JD.com global sales data (2022.01-2022.06) & qualitative visit)
Other key insights –
Overseas users are more sensitive to product discounts and shipping costs, and consumers have the highest overall preference for product promotions.
Users’ demand for shipping is slightly higher than the demand for discounts on products. When comparing the price of products against overseas e-commerce or offline stores, the freight prices have a greater impact on decision-making.
If the shipping cost is too high, the user may give up the idea of purchasing from China.
The consumption habits of overseas users have gradually changed, and cross-border online shopping has gradually become their habit. If you want to know more about the "2022 Overseas, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Consumption Trend Insights ", please contact us for more information, or download it here.