Chinese consumers, it seems, are even keener on buying American brands than they have been in the past. The number of China-based consumers buying U.S. brands online this holiday season is up seven times over last year.
According to Alipay, China’s third-party payment platform, which lets U.S. retailers sell and ship to consumers in China using an ePass cross-border e-commerce solution, total sales from those purchases were up 15 percent over the same period in 2014.
“Among the savviest shoppers in the world, Chinese consumers are continuously seeking high quality U.S. products and Western merchandise that they can’t find in China,” Alipay U.S. president Jingming Li, said.
Millennials accounted for the biggest portion of purchasers, taking over for the middle class as China’s strongest e-retail segment for cross-border purchases.
Those Millennials born in the 1990s bought the most and 34 percent of shoppers were born after the 90s—a number that grew threefold year-over-year.
An overwhelming 70 percent of shoppers were female, and fashion beauty, baby products and goods in health and wellness categories accounted for 75 percent of total transactions.
Most of the purchases were made in Shanghai and Beijing, followed by Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
“With better logistics and localized payment options now available to make cross-border purchases, we expect this tremendous growth of Chinese consumers to continue throughout the holiday season, particularly as U.S. e-commerce retailers provide more discounts and promotions,” Li added.