Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年6月27日 ]

Social media invaluable to success in trendy Chinese urban market

Shanghai spots get hot thanks to word-of-mouth advertising

On a recent weekday evening, several hundred people stood in line at Heytea, a Guangdong-based chain of tea shops. Wait times are often six or seven hours. More than 90% of the customers are in their late teens or early 20s, with women accounting for 70-80% of the total. Customers mostly come in groups of two or three. A cup of tea elsewhere costs about 12 yuan ($1.76), but Heytea charges 20-30 yuan. Still, it sells around 4,000 cups of milk tea a day, generating sales as high as 80,000 yuan.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年6月25日 ]

Demographic shifts see retirees with time and money to kick back

China's seniors enjoying second youth

With an aging population and people born in the 1960s coming up to retirement, perceptions of life in one's later years are changing in China. "Isn't this just too much?" said Liu jokingly as he showed off pictures of his old school friends running marathons and riding bikes. But the 53-year-old who runs a Shanghai consulting company is every bit as active. He got his scuba license in Thailand last year and goes diving to take underwater pictures for his own social media feed every chance he gets.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年5月14日 ]

Internet supermarkets feature a cornucopia of staples and specialty products

$13bn in fresh food sales point to China's latest online headway

A white plastic foam box delivered to my home in Shanghai contained a single wiggling lobster from Australia along with some ice packs. It had been sent by Fields China, a Shanghai-based online supermarket that specializes in imported upscale foods. The retailer received an investment from Sun Art Retail Group, which has RT-Mart, a major Taiwanese hypermarket chain, under its umbrella.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年5月7日 ]

China keen to learn the secrets behind tasty success stories

Taipei eateries attracting mainland Chinese

Taipei really knows how to cook. And it does it so well that even mainland Chinese are flocking to the city's numerous and famously delicious restaurants. The top draw according to a recent word-of-mouth ranking by Baidu, a popular Chinese search engine, was Lin Dong Fang Niu Rou Mian. This venerable Taipei-style beef noodle restaurant seats about 40 and is nearly always packed.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年5月4日 ]

Hema Xiansheng stores a hybrid of online and brick-and-mortar

China's revolutionary O2O supermarket chain

Hema Xiansheng, a Chinese online-to-offline, or O2O, fresh food startup is racing ahead amid reports of slumping sales at general merchandise stores in the country. The company has steadily expanded its network of brick-and-mortar supermarkets since it opened its first outlet in early 2016, and is doing so while pursuing a revolutionary, cost-conscious O2O business model.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年4月8日 ]

Ctrip uses mobile social network to help customers help themselves

'Have smartphone, will travel' is mantra of new Chinese tourists

In preparation for my trip to Taiwan during this year's Chinese New Year holiday, I purchased a ticket through Ctrip.com, a major Chinese online travel agency that I often use, for a flight on China Eastern Airlines on Jan. 26, two days before the start of the festivities. I bought the ticket several months in advance, and as the date of departure drew near, I received a text message on my smartphone. It said, "Would you like to chat with your fellow passengers traveling together to Taiwan on the same flight?"

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年3月26日 ]

Marathon bug has amateur enthusiasts spending more on gear and training

42km fever grips Chinese runners

Marathon fever has gripped China, and it shows no sign of fading. "The boom in amateur marathons began in China in 2015 and continued into 2016," said Lin, who works for Nike's Chinese unit. The number of these 42km races held in the country more than doubled from 53 in 2014 to 134 in 2015, with over 2 million runners signing up. Last year, 200 races were held, and the figure is expected to swell beyond 500 in 2020.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年3月13日 ]

Consumer product makers must adapt to changing preferences to succeed

Chinese develop a taste for healthy food and drinks

Guangzhou East Railway Station is an overland gateway to Guangzhou, the capital of China's Guangdong Province. The station is the terminus for trains bound for Dongguan, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It has helped drive the economic growth reflected in the high-rise buildings offices and hotels that began appearing in the 1990s.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年3月4日 ]

Meeting demand for both goods and services key to expansion

Booming Chinese outlet mall market to hit provinces

Many of the staff selling luxury brands at China's big department stores have found themeselves with not much to do recently, as spending on consumer goods has waned. Bucking the trend, however, the Florentia Village outlet mall in Tianjin has seen long lines of shoppers outside its Burberry, Chanel and other brand stores.

 

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Nikkei Asian Review [ 2017年2月26日 ]

New ideas and experiences fuel consumption and growth

Chinese trends of 2016 help explain economic resilience

Everyone is worried that with the Chinese economy sneezing, the world is catching a cold. But consumption in the country remains resilient. So what is driving the growth? Let's take a look at the Chinese consumer hits of 2016. Last year's champions were Singles' Day and 618, the two massive online sales campaigns. Although they are nothing new, last year's Singles' Day -- the Nov. 11 celebration of being single -- drew 120.7 billion yuan ($17.6 billion), a record amount of money spent within 24 hours. They surely had a big impact not only on Chinese consumers but also on the world.