Measures set to spur holiday shopping

As Chinese consumers have been increasingly emphasizing value for money, retailers and local governments have come up with more attractive discounts and subsidy plans this year for the Spring Festival shopping season.

German supermarket chain Aldi has provided about 300 kinds of low-priced special goods for the holiday among its outlets in Shanghai, over 200 of which are priced below 100 yuan ($13.6).

Aldi said consumers have been attaching greater importance to value for money. Therefore, providing special goods featuring lower prices has become a new feature for Spring Festival shopping, which has been an increasingly noticeable trend in recent years.

According to a report released by consumer and retail analytics company NielsenIQ in late November, about 47 percent of 1,100 surveyed Chinese consumers said they will only purchase items which they will actually use, saying they are more careful with their spending habits nowadays. This result was 7 percent higher than the figure collected at the beginning of 2024.

On the other hand, up to 39 percent of consumers have attached greater importance to products' cost effectiveness and shoppers are becoming more accustomed to comparing prices across different platforms, up from 30 percent seen at the beginning of 2024. In this sense, consumers placing more emphasis on cost effectiveness have become the mainstream in the Chinese market, said NielsenIQ experts.

Online retailers' offers have become especially appealing for this year's Spring Festival, as the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance unveiled on Jan 8 the expanded consumer goods trade-in program and subsidies for home appliances.

Tmall, an online marketplace of tech behemoth Alibaba, has listed government subsidies in the provinces of Zhejiang, Guangdong and Jiangsu, as well as Shanghai, for eight designated categories of home appliances, which are as high as 2,000 yuan for each purchase. Combined with Tmall's Spring Festival promotions, consumers can enjoy discounts of up to 40 percent.

Online discounter Pinduoduo has also set up a special area on its platform to list government subsidies for home appliance purchases — many of which are white goods — subsidizing up to 20 percent of purchase costs. Another 400 yuan subsidy for each purchase has been provided to Pinduoduo users in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, Jilin and Fujian.

As Pinduoduo has provided more subsidies for agricultural products, special goods for the Spring Festival, time-honored brands and Chinese domestic brands, consumers can also enjoy a maximum 50 percent discount for such purchases.

Local governments have also stepped up similar spending incentives. Cities in more than 10 provinces — including Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui — have begun issuing a new round of consumption coupons since the beginning of the year.

The local government of Ningbo, Zhejiang, announced on Dec 27 that it would issue a total of 200 million yuan in coupons from January to March to boost consumption, especially during the Spring Festival. The coupons will cover new car purchases, secondhand auto deals, restaurants and supermarkets. Subsidies for each new car purchase can be as much as 7,000 yuan, and those for used vehicles can reach a maximum 5,000 yuan.

On Jan 6, the government of Wuhan, Hubei province announced that it will release over 100 million yuan of consumption coupons to further stimulate purchases in retailing, catering, tourism and sports.

Henan province announced on Jan 6 that it will issue 200 million yuan of consumption coupons in the first quarter, covering the sectors of retailing, catering, tourism and accommodation. Local governments in the province are also encouraged to issue more consumption coupons based on their own situations.

The culture and tourism bureau of Pudong New Area in Shanghai announced in late December that it would issue six different kinds of consumption coupons to travelers booking tourist attraction tickets and hotels via online platforms including Trip.com, Qunar, Meituan and Fliggy throughout January. A maximum of 800 yuan in discounts can be granted to travelers using the above-mentioned four platforms.

Zhu Keli, founding director of the China Institute of New Economy, said the issuance of such coupons can further boost consumption during the Spring Festival.

"Consumer confidence will pick up amid the government's incentives, which is conducive to the development of related industries and the optimization of the overall consumption structure," Zhu said.