As this year’s week-long Chinese New Year holiday comes to an end, Ant Group would like to share some observations on Chinese consumers’ spring festival spending and trends.
These findings “provide a snapshot of recovering consumption in China’s domestic market and outbound tourism market.”
Main findings include: (increases expressed are compared with the same period in 2022)
Consumption in hometown cities is increasing.
Tier 3 and other lower tiered cities in China “saw nearly 20% increase in mobile payment volume through the Alipay platform.” Every Spring Festival, which is the most important holiday in China, many Chinese citizens “will travel back to their hometowns from larger Tier 1 or Tier 2 cities to spend time with family.”
Hotels and tourist attractions are benefiting directly from a tourism boom.
The number of searches for tourist attractions “on the Alipay platform increased by over 200%.”
Consumer spending “on the Alipay platform at tourist destinations increased by over 100%.”
Consumer spending through Alipay “at some popular tourist destinations, like Zhangjiakou in China’s northern Hebei Province and Xishuangbanna in China’s southwest Yunnan Province, increased by over 1000%.”
The number of searches for “hotel booking” on the Alipay platform “increased by 600% and hotel spending on the Alipay platform increased by 80%.”
Outbound tourism is taking off.
Sales of overseas travel insurance on Ant Insurance platform “jumped by 6100%.”
China’s Hong Kong and Macao S.A.R.s are “the most popular destinations for Chinese mainland Alipay users traveling cross-border, based on the number of transactions around this Chinese New Year.”
The number of transactions through Alipay from Chinese mainland tourists to Macao increased “by 100% while that from Chinese mainland tourists to Hong Kong increased by nearly 70%.”
New lifestyles are increasingly popular among young people.
Pets are “becoming new friends and family members for young people in China.” This spring festival, the number of searches for “helping feed pet at my home” on the Alipay platform increased by 200% compared with that of last year.
Rental economy keeps growing.
From cameras to cars, rented goods are “becoming more popular among Chinese consumers.”
The number of searches for “renting cameras, camera lenses and cars” on the Alipay platform increased by 200%, 100% and 50% respectively.
New energy related searches also soared with the number of searches for “charging” and “charging pile” on the Alipay platform increasing by 300% and 150% respectively.
Car owner spending on car-related services “accessed through the Alipay platform increased by 20%.”
(Note: data is from January 19 to 25, 2023.)
In the evolving digital era, Alipay has “transformed from a trusted payment tool to an open platform for businesses, institutions, service providers, and other partners.”
Business partners in various industries “utilize Alipay to offer consumers a safe and convenient payment experience.”
Through digital operations “on the Alipay platform, business partners can communicate and provide various commercial and daily life digital services for their clients via Alipay mini programs, lifestyle accounts, and IoT, along with other tools available.”
Currently, there have been over 80 million businesses “serving more than one billion consumers via Alipay’s open platform services.”