2026 Online Consumption Opportunities: What 2025 Data Tells Us About the Next Wave

Source: huo1818.com

China’s online consumption market is entering 2026 with a steadier base and more “selective” demand. The report highlights that overall retail fundamentals remain resilient, with total retail sales staying at a high level while year-on-year growth moves in cycles—an environment best described as “stable in scale, with a fluctuating rhythm”.

In practice, that means the growth story is no longer about broad traffic dividends; it is increasingly about earning preference, building trust and winning specific use-cases.

Across categories, the same underlying pattern repeats: consumers are becoming more rational, more informed, and more intentional. In colour cosmetics, for example, the report explicitly notes a shift “from traffic dividends to mindshare dividends”, as shoppers move away from blind trend-chasing towards more researched, better-matched choices.

This change is not limited to beauty: it shapes decisions in home appliances, snacks, drinks, pets and outdoor—anywhere shoppers can compare products quickly, learn from content, and demand visible value.

Below, we summarise the most actionable signals for brands and marketers—starting with the “ten consumer keywords” that define 2025, then moving into category-level opportunity areas for 2026 planning.

From “On-the-Road” Living to Prestige Beauty: The Premium Pockets Shaping 2026 Demand

The report’s 2025 “consumer keywords” point to a market that is still upgrading in scale—but with the most bankable momentum concentrating in travel-led mobility, prestige beauty, and luxury-adjacent premium signals.

Source: huo1818.com

Travel and “being on the road” remains a clear growth anchor. Travel-ready gear is surging as consumers normalise short breaks, city escapes and content-led trips: sports cameras and digital camcorders jumped 150%+ year-on-year, while complete bicycles rose 40%+. The underlying story is not just movement—it’s scenario value: products that make travel easier, more comfortable, and more “shareable” are gaining disproportionate attention.

Source: huo1818.com

Beauty is growing where premiumisation is backed by trust and clear outcomes. Within Taobao’s high-growth beauty subcategories, nail products grew 20%+, while fragrance products and makeup sets both rose 10%+, reinforcing that cosmetics growth is increasingly driven by upgrade logic (better performance, better ingredients, better experience) rather than pure trend-chasing. For 2026, the winning play is to elevate hero products—especially in fragrance and complexion—then communicate with evidence and credibility.

High-end luxury signals are also emerging through “maintenance” consumption. The rise of leather-care products (+20%+) suggests consumers are investing in keeping premium goods in top condition—an understated but meaningful indicator of luxury ownership and a “buy better, keep longer” mindset. Together, these themes—travel scenarios, prestige beauty, and luxury maintenance—should be treated as core planning pillars for 2026.

Source: huo1818.com

Beauty & personal care: “clinic-grade” trust and skincare-first makeup

1) “Clinic-grade skincare” is both hot and big

The report describes “clinic-grade skincare” as a track with both high attention and strong sales on the Taobao ecosystem, remaining at elevated levels over time.

Related keywords show rapid momentum: “clinic/derm-style” (+118%), “beauty salon” (+187%) and “water glow” (+68%) by year-on-year sales volume.

Crucially, the growth engine is not only newness—it is upgrade-led trust building. The report notes that legacy-product upgrades (especially via technology or ingredient upgrades) account for 78% of sales value growth.

For 2026, this is a clear instruction: re-platform hero products with credible upgrades, then communicate “why it’s better” in a proof-first way.

2) Cosmetics: from “looks” to “looks + skin”

Colour cosmetics is becoming more pragmatic and skincare-oriented. The report states that “makeup–skincare integration” is now a must-have; “skincare” is the second most important purchase consideration, just after makeup performance.

Two expressions of this are particularly commercial:

• Bone-structure makeup (骨相化妆): consumers are shifting towards natural contour and “no-makeup” looks, driven by a preference for “real beauty” and light–shadow techniques that enhance natural facial structure—boosting categories such as highlighter, contour and blush.
  

• Multi-use and efficiency: “multi-use cosmetics” integrate functions (contour + highlight + blush) and fit commuting and travel scenarios. Searches for “lip & cheek multi-use” rose +627% year-on-year.
  

• “Makeup-care in one” entering a ‘functional era’: consumers increasingly expect measurable functions (anti-ageing, repair, sun protection), supported by research-based claims rather than pure concept marketing.

  
  

Home appliances: policy-tailwinds and the “green + smart” upgrade cycle

Source: huo1818.com

For large appliances, policy is directly shaping demand structure. The report notes that 2025’s appliance subsidy programme expanded from 8 categories to 12, and broadened eligible products further, while optimising management—stimulating premium consumption, accelerating competitive differentiation, and guiding the industry towards green and intelligent transformation.

It also highlights “trade-in” policy upgrades across category expansion, breakthrough adjustments and funding mechanism improvements.

For 2026, brands should align proposition and messaging with policy-shaped needs: energy efficiency, smart ecosystem benefits, and scenario-led premiumisation (kitchen upgrade, whole-home comfort, etc.), while ensuring retail execution is smooth across regions as funding and implementation vary.

Snacks: health logic, flavour novelty, and “emotional regulation” at scale

The snacks market is stable overall, but growth is migrating into segments that combine strong taste stories with clear health or mood value. The report states that consumers’ demand for “flavourful, healthier and more personalised” snacks is rising.

It also describes functional snacks moving from the margins to the mainstream, with the market entering a phase where “ingredients are selling points, and health is value”.

Two high-opportunity tracks stand out:

1) Low-GI foods “take off”

The report explicitly calls out a surge in low-GI foods as consumers pursue more precise and scientific health solutions.

The most accepted low-GI snack format is “low GI + high nutrition nuts”; “light staple” snack formats (breakfast replacement + sugar control) are becoming a second growth path because they solve satiety needs.

The macro driver is structural: ageing, chronic conditions, and expanding weight management needs.

2) Emotional snacks become a “low-threshold, high-feedback” tool

The report shows that snack innovation is fuelled by novelty flavours and social sharing—products become “social currency” on platforms.

More importantly, “emotional value” is shifting purchase motivation from simply “tasting good” to “feeling better”.

Social buzz for “emotional snacks” rose sharply, with the report indicating 2025 social volume up 219% versus 2024.

Beverages: clean labels and superfoods go mainstream

In beverages, the direction is clear: consumers are pushing the industry from “ingredient tricks” to “real purity”. The report notes stronger demand for transparency and naturalness, with categories such as yoghurt, drinks and cereals increasingly adopting clean-label certification.

At the same time, superfoods are becoming a scalable growth lever. The report describes vitamin/mineral/antioxidant-rich superfoods (kale, chia seeds, spirulina, etc.) moving from fitness meals into mass-market drinks—becoming a “traffic password” for healthy beverages.

Successful brands link superfoods to simple benefit logic (e.g., “acai = antioxidants”) and anchor them in specific use-cases such as breakfast replacement, light fitness meals and office wellness.

Pets and outdoor: from lifestyle to everyday infrastructure

Pets: smart, healthy, and “ageing-pet” solutions

The report characterises the market as “cat-economy led” with consumption upgrading towards intelligence, home life and health.

A standout 2026 opportunity is ageing pets: the report estimates 2025’s ageing-pet market will exceed RMB 63 billion, with demand pointing clearly to health, function and safety upgrades.

Smart pet products also help owners manage feeding, toileting and health monitoring more precisely whilst reducing daily burden—supporting “convenient but responsible” pet parenting.

Outdoor: “light outdoor” becomes urban routine

Source: huo1818.com

“Light outdoor” fits modern consumers’ desire for relaxation and low-prep activity. The report notes that in outdoor activity preference, “relaxed mindset” ranks highest at 59.5%, directly lifting demand for apparel, sun protection, outdoor footwear and bicycles.

It also points to outdoor gear integrating into everyday city and near-suburb scenarios via lighter, modular design—where function and aesthetics co-exist.

What to do next: a 2026 action checklist

1. Design around scenarios, not categories. Commuting, travel, office wellness, “light outdoor”, and human–pet co-living are recurring demand anchors across the report.

   
   

2. Upgrade heroes with proof, then scale the story. From skincare upgrades driving 78% of growth to “makeup-care” demanding research-based claims, credibility is becoming the growth multiplier.

   
   

3. Treat health as product logic, not a label. Low-GI and functional snacks win when the logic is simple, the cognitive burden is low, and benefits are scenario-anchored.

   
   

4. Build emotional value into accessible rituals. “Emotional snacks” show how low-cost, high-frequency products can become everyday mood tools.

   
   

5. Align with policy where it truly shifts willingness to pay. In appliances, subsidy expansion and trade-in improvements are shaping premium and smart demand—execution and messaging should be built to match.
   

If you’d like to translate these 2025 signals into a clear 2026 action plan, we’re happy to help, from category deep-dives and scenario mapping to go-to-market recommendations for China’s online market.