Chinese consumers enjoy cross-border shopping

Cross-border shopping by Chinese consumers boomed in 2017, with maternity and baby products topping choices, reported Nielsen, a leading global information and measurement company.

The company issued a white paper titled "What's Next for China's Connected Consumers - A Roadmap for Driving Digital Demand," which analyzed how connected devices and digital platforms have led to a consumption boom in China.

Chinese consumers purchasing milk powder at an overseas tax-free shop. [File Photo: Chinanews.com]

The proportion of Chinese consumers that shop on overseas websites increased from 34 percent in 2015 to 64 percent in 2017, said the white paper, with 66 percent of them aged from 18 to 35.

Nielsen's statistics showed that baby food and milk powder made up 26 percent of the total cross-border sales in the first half of last year. Personal care supplies also remained high on the shopping list.

Problems also emerged along with the surge in demand, such as logistics issues, ineffective communication and inconvenience of goods exchange or refunds. Merchandisers must adjust their policies to win more consumers, said the Nielsen report.

The white paper pointed out that the increasing popularity of robotics, virtual reality

, machine learning and frictionless payment will further influence consumers' habits and behaviors.

"As China's digital economy accelerates, marketers face a myriad of options to engage consumers. However, as audiences fragment and the path to purchase explodes, digital returns will become even harder to achieve. Brand owners will need a new approach if they are to engage China's growing wave of connected consumers. Measurement and real-time optimization have become a new force in marketing to Chinese consumers," explained Vishal Bali, managing director of Nielsen China.