China’s Gen Z stimulates new consumption trends during Spring Festival

China’s Generation Z, or people born between 1995 and 2009, demonstrated some new consumption trends during the weeklong Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year holiday, which is not only an important occasion for family reunions but also a peak season for shopping.

Photo shows pre-cooked New Year’s Eve dishes at a superstore of RT-Mart, a supermarket chain. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Young consumers prepared shopping lists for the Spring Festival, which began on Jan. 31 and lasted until Feb. 6 this year, to please themselves, preferring to buy small appliances, such as water flossers, personal beauty equipment, air fryers, and muscle massager guns.

Experts said that young consumers from Generation Z are more willing to buy high-quality products in order to have a better lifestyle.

According to China’s popular e-commerce platform Taobao, scrubbers, pre-cooked dishes for the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner, ski wear, products of Jubensha, literally translated as “script homicide”, a role-playing murder-mystery game, low-calorie snacks, Spring Festival-themed phone cases, Spring Festival couplets, tiger-shaped hats, and clothes for pets were the most popular special purchases for the Spring Festival on the platform.

During the festival, pre-cooked dishes for the Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner were favored by young people. Sales of pre-cooked New Year’s Eve dishes on Hema Fresh, Alibaba’s fresh-food chain, in Beijing reached five times that of the same period last year. It was estimated that total sales of pre-cooked New Year’s Eve dishes of Chinese superstore chain RT-Mart increased 50 percent year on year. In early January, New Year’s Eve dinner-related orders on China’s popular online food delivery platform Meituan soared 1,590 percent month on month.

For many young people, these prepared dishes are suitable options that meet their needs for a bumper New Year’s Eve dinner and retain ceremonial sense.

Traditional culture came under the spotlight in China’s consumer market, as Guochao, a trend translated as “China-chic,” is sweeping across young groups. The order volume of gift box items with Chinese cultural elements skyrocketed 300 percent year on year, according to Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com.

Young people play Jubensha, literally translated as “script homicide” a role-playing murder mystery game in Chengguan district, Lanzhou, northwest China’s Gansu Province, Jan. 24. (Xinhua/Ren Yanxin)

“During the Spring Festival, multiple domestic brands rolled out new tiger-themed products, the third zodiac sign in the Chinese zodiac cycle, and some of these products sold well on overseas platforms,” said Li Ya’nan, who was born after 1995.

Meanwhile, offline social games such as room escape and Jubensha became popular forms of entertainment for young people during the Spring Festival.

The ongoing Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games ignited the passion of China’s Generation Z for ice and snow activities. Bookings of trips related to winter sports for the Spring Festival made by young people born after 2000 soared over 80 percent year on year, according to data from Fliggy.com, Alibaba’s online travel service provider.

Generation Z also bought smartphones, smart bracelets, and virtual reality glasses for their family members during the festival, helping senior citizens embrace digital life.