55% of Chinese alcohol consumers have started to order liquor online and young consumers plan to buy more alcohol products via the Internet. Amazon China reported its sales on imported wines grew 550% and the average order value on wine products increased 40% in 2015.
Online has become an important channel for selling alcohol beverage in China. 55% of Chinese consumers who drink alcohol say they have ordered liquor online, while 90% of them purchase in bricks-and-mortar stores, according to a report from consumer research firm Nielsen Holdings Plc.
Nielsen says 23% of online sales of alcohol were incremental sales, based on the estimations of consumers surveyed. Some of those respondents say they buy more alcohol now because the web provides greater selection.
Nielsen says liquor sales in China increased 8.9% over the prior year while beer sales grew 8.3%. However, imported wine purchases increased 26.8% in 2015. Sales of vodka, whiskey and liqueurs slid, which Nielsen attributed to producers cutting back on distribution. Nielsen did not provide a dollar estimate for those sales.
Consumers ages 30-39 buy the most alcohol online, making 22% of their purchases via the web, Nielsen says. They often like to buy alcohol products with upscale-looking packaging, according to the Nielsen report.
Nielsen suggests liquor brands and retailers should increase their digital marketing in China, including placing online ads and engaging with consumers on social media, as 80% of Chinese consumers ages 20-39 go online every day.
Wine also is a hot category for many e-retailers in China. Amazon’s China division, Amazon China, No. 4 in the Internet Retailer 2016 China 500, had reported that its sales of imported wines grew 550% and average order value on wine products increased 40% in 2015, although it didn’t provide the dollar amounts. Amazon says Chinese consumers like to buy wines from France, Australia, Chile and the United States.
JD.com Inc., No. 1 in the Internet Retailer China 500, last week announced that it will sell Penfolds, a wine brand from Australia, in China. JD also reported that it had sold 22 million bottles of wine in 2015, more than double what it sold in 2014. The company also allows global retailers to sell wines to Chinese consumers on JD Worldwide, a marketplace that operates under China’s so-called cross-border rules, which allow an overseas retailer to take orders from consumers and then send the products into China through an expedited customs-clearing process.
For a full report on the opportunities for foreign brands to sell online into China, read “Open Door Policy,” which appears in the November 2015 issue of Internet Retailer magazine.
For more Chinese e-commerce data, please click here for the new-released Internet Retailer 2016 China 500.
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