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Do you belong to China? Or selling products in China & willing to boost up your eCommerce store sales than this blog is for you. As we all know, China is a country in East Asia that is the world’s most populous nation. Another interesting fact is that China is also considered the world’s second-largest economy and in 2019 China’s GDP was $14.3 trillion. When a country has such a huge audience then it is befitting to say that eCommerce would also flourish because where there is demand there is supply. The eCommerce market in China provides a personalized shopping experience to its customers as various brands come together and are available on a single online platform/website that allows customers to look for what they want in one place. Chinese consumers spent more than $750bn online which is higher than the combined spendings by the UK and the US. Hence China boasts of a high rate of potential consumers and every successful ecommerce company needs to ensure that all holidays are targeted properly to increase sales.
Recommended: Tips to Increase Online Sale Conversions this Holiday Season
Retail is gradually growing and with technological advancements, there are various new requirements that consumers have and the eCommerce market is paving way for a wonderful shopping experience. The best way to draw the attention of your target audience is to understand their basic needs and how or when do you think they would invest in it. Once, you have identified these two areas then figure out a Holiday around the corner that can be used to your benefit. As the New Calendar year commences, the first and foremost thing to do is create a list of all the holidays and figure our deals, schemes one would wish to indulge in. Every holiday counts because each of these days would bring in a lot of sales as the audience looks for good opportunities to shop and as an eCommerce partner if you provide just that then you could surely reap the profits.
Take a look at some of the major sales holidays of China in 2021.
JANUARY:
01 January – New Year’s Day
24-25 January – Spring Festival
25 January – Chinese New Year
FEBRUARY:
05 February – Chinese Lunar New Year’s Day
08 February – Lantern Festival
14 February – Valentine’s Day
MARCH:
03 March – World Book Day
08 March – International Women’s Day
15 March – Consumer Rights Day
28 March – Earth hour day
APRIL:
01 April – April Fool’s Day
04 April – Qingming Festival
MAY:
01 May – Labor Day
10 May – Mother’s Day
17 May – 517 Festival
20 May – Online Valentine’s Day
JUNE:
01 June – Children’s Day
10-12 June – CES Asia
18 June – 618 Shopping Festival
21 June – Father’s Day
25 June – Dragon Boat Festival
JULY:
24 July – Tokyo Olympics will Begin
30 July – International Day of Friendship
AUGUST:
03 August – Men’s Day
08 August – Closing of the Tokyo Olympics
25 August – Qixi / Chinese Valentine’s Day
SEPTEMBER:
10 September – Teacher’s Day
15 September – Harvest Celebration
OCTOBER:
01 October – Mid-autumn Festival
01-07 October – National Day Golden Week
24 October – China Programmer Day
25 October – Double Ninth Festival
31 October – Halloween
NOVEMBER:
11 November – Single’s Day / Double 11
27 November – Black Friday
26 November – Thanksgiving Day
30 November – Cyber Monday
DECEMBER:
12 December – Double 12
21 December – Winter Solstice
25 December – Christmas Day
Don’t forget to download this holiday eCommerce marketing calendar for China 2021.
Now, let’s dig in more about the important shopping holidays that played a vital role in driving major online eCommerce store sales.
- Chinese New Year – 25th January / Chinese Lunar New Year – 5th February:
Every year should begin on a positive note for all of us and people often like to buy things that make them happy during the start of the year. This is a lovely window for brands to introduced new products or reduces the prices of existing ones in order to gain the attention of consumers and provide options to choose from. The people of China celebrate two days of New Year one is in the month of January and the other is in the month of February. The New Year day revolves around rats in China and various brands and businesses create special seasonal items that include Rats in terms of logos or symbols on the products released during this period.
- Valentine’s Day – 14th February / Chinese Valentine’s Day – 25th August:
There is always a lot of love people have to give and Chinese people jump at every opportunity to express their love to their partners. These days of love seem to hold significance as it contributes to increased sales. Chinese eCommerce partners should ensure that these dates are added in their yearly calendar so that they can reach out to a huge audience. It is a good opportunity for brands to promote products that represent love or presents that show how much couples care for each other. Introducing new sophisticated products every year can make this a day when numerous brands can capitalize on profits.
- Qing Ming Jie holiday – 4th April:
This is a traditional Chinese Festival also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, Chinese Memorial Day or Ancestor’s Day wherein the entire population of China shows respect to their Ancestors. People visit the graves of the dead and clean it on this day. The younger generation often travels back home or plan a trip with friends so eCommerce travel partners can issue discounted tickets and interesting deals for consumers to avail. It is important to note that at such festivals, people of any country would splurge on online shopping as they would want to buy gifts for family and friends without having to spend a lot of time. If eCommerce retailers provide discounts and offers during this period then they can see a drastic increase in their sales over the holiday period.
- Dragon Boat Festival – 25th June:
Another auspicious festival for the people of China as on this day they commemorate their initial attempt at rescuing Qu Yuan as legends have it. The local people of China threw sacrificial cooked rice into the water hoping that the fishes in the river would eat that instead of Qu Yuan’s body. As this festival revolves around food, various eCommerce food brands compete to introduce new products or sell existing items at lower rates taking advantage of the season. This festival occurs during the Summer solstice and brings people together so it is the ideal time for eCommerce brands to offer season special sales and discounts on their products and services by offering something for every age group as it would reach a huge audience and everyone could enjoy and benefit from the festival sales.
- National Day Golden Week – 1-7 Oct:
Every year on October 1st, Chinese National Day is celebrated to commemorate the founding of the People’s Republic of China. There are large scale activities held across the nation and millions of people flock to attend these. This is a 7 day holiday period from Oct 1st – Oct 7th that the people of China call the ‘Golden Week’. A large number of Chinese people travel around the world as it is the autumn season and comfortable temperatures, the Chinese National Holiday is considered to be the longest public holiday which allows people of the country to travel to various places increasing the tourism revenue. Ecommerce retailers should zero in on these days and those owning travel brands should provide sales for their customers during this period as it would attract more consumers.
- Double Ninth Festival:
Chinese people are very traditional and do not let their culture disintegrate and this keeps them bonded over the years. They like to gift each other something as a token of appreciation and these festivals are a good opportunity for them to do so. The eCommerce retailers should target this time of the year to push new products and offer discounts on pre-existing ones so that a large number of people are attracted to these offers and splurge during the festivities. The fact that this festival falls during the 9th month of the year also allows people to purchase things that they would need during the upcoming year and if they get good deals then they would be seen happily shopping.
- Double 11:
Despite the fact that China is the world’s second-highest nation in terms of population, the Chinese celebrate the National Single’s day on November 11 also known as Double 11. It is considered as an unofficial holiday for all the eligible bachelors’ of the nation. November 11 was chosen as the date because ‘1’ symbolizes a ‘bare stick’ that stands for a Chinese slang for a lonely man without a significant other and four ‘1’ s that refer to the complete calendar date signify the demographic group of single men in the country. In 2018, the eCommerce sales exceeded 213.5 billion Yuan and hence this is the best window for brands to advertise their products, offer promotions as the majority of the yearly online sales happen during this period only.
- Double 12:
As the year draws to an end, people often forget to buy important things that they need and missed purchasing during the other sales. This is the time when eCommerce retailers take a chance and introduce exiting deals for the consumers as it is considered as the year-end shopping festival. This sale is an extension of the one that happens during Double 11, the fact that there are various huge brands competing to gain the consumer’s attention and in that fight, a lot of small scale businesses lose out on a sales opportunity so these brands step up and offer huge discounts and share promotional codes for people to be attracted towards these fairly new brands. If you are an eCommerce start-up or a new business then this should be your target window during the year to aim at maximum sales and visibility.
Summary
These are some of the most unconventional shopping holidays in China during which exciting eCommerce offers would actually attract potential customers. Possible offers like a discount on shipping, opportunity to win gifts and redeem points for special products all of these would really influence customers to make a purchase during this time. In order to reach out to people, promotions during the holiday period as clients would be surfing the Internet for their needs and in case there is an exciting offer then they would definitely be influenced to make a purchase. As a holiday sales boost, the website can further allow customers to redeem gift cards, use special discount coupons and offer codes. You can also consult an eCommerce Expert who will help you to plan your campaigns and guide you to double up your sales.
