- In the third quarter of 2024, consumer spending on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and technology and durable goods (T&D) in China showed strong growth compared to the same period last year, with FMCG growing by 5.0% and T&D by 3.51%.
- The FMCG market in China saw robust growth in Q3, with online channels growing by 14.3% and offline channels rebounding to 0.7%.
- The effective “trade-in” policy stimulated consumer replacement demand, leading to a year-on-year growth of 1.4% across omni-channels in the Chinese home appliance market.
Shanghai, China, November 21, 2024: In the third quarter of 2024, Chinese consumers’ spending on FMCG and T&D increased by 4.3% year-on-year, significantly up from the 0.9% growth rate in Q2. FMCG and T&D registered a year-on-year growth of 5.0% and 3.51%, respectively. The data was sourced from NIQ retail research and GfK retail monitoring data, which measure sales of FMCG and non-food consumer goods across retail stores globally.
The NIQ Retail Spend Barometer provides a complete overview of China spend for the FMCG sector (ambient and frozen food, beverage, snacking, dairy, pet care, homecare, personal care, baby care and paper products) and for the T&D sector (technical consumer goods, home appliances, DIY and home improvement). This cross-category and cross-channel overview is based on real sales data and is published on a quarterly basis to illustrate household spending priorities.
Gradual FMCG recovery under economic revival with price-driven volume sales becoming the main theme
According to the NIQ Retail Spend Barometer, the FMCG market is steadily warming up, with a year-on-year sales growth of 2.9% across omni-channels from January to September 2024. Notably, online growth was particularly strong at 11.1%, while offline sales slowed its decrease to 1.2%. Entering Q3, the growth momentum in China’s FMCG market became more evident, with omnichannel sales increasing by 5% year-on-year. Online channels saw a growth rate of 14.3%, while offline channels rebounded to 0.7%.
Additionally, the stratification of consumer demands is accelerating differentiation in retail formats. Data from NIQ monitoring 6.2 million stores indicates that in the first three quarters of 2024, omnichannel growth in the FMCG market remained stable. Offline channels are showing a trend towards proximity and freshness, with small nearby outlets continuing to lead the offline market due to their convenience. Among these, grocery stores saw significant growth at 4.7%. Emerging channels such as snack shops, membership stores, and dining and entertainment venues are also demonstrating vitality. Furthermore, while hypermarkets face challenges, their advantages in product quality and in-store shopping experience have led to a narrowing of their decline, performing better than in the same period last year. In online channels, content-driven e-commerce continues to drive growth, with an increase of 31%. Comprehensive e-commerce platforms are favored by consumers for their valuable and diverse offerings, registering a 2% growth.
In terms of category, beverage continues to lead the market with an 8.7% increase in Q3 of 2024, while personal care products see the largest increase. Additionally, ambient food, paper products, and personal care products including pet care and home care, have also seen year-on-year sales increases.
Lynn Wang, Retail Customer Success Lead at NielsenIQ China, stated: “The trend of smaller stores reflects the development of proximity. The data shows that 52% of community small supermarkets are under 100 square meters, up by 3 percentage points from last year, while 74% of community convenience stores are even smaller, at under 50 square meters. Another notable change is the shift of store categories towards fresh produce, with fresh items accounting for about 58% of consumers’ daily shopping expenditures. Due to their strong ability to attract foot traffic, various retail formats have begun to expand their fresh product offerings. Additionally, the support role of O2O (Online-to-Offline) channels remains stable at around 8%, especially in the personal care and food and beverage sectors, where the ability to quickly respond to consumer immediate needs has resulted in strong growth in these categories within O2O channels, representing an important growth opportunity for manufacturers.”
Significant Q3 Growth in China’s T&D Market Driven by Trade-In Initiative
GfK retail monitoring data indicates that sales in China’s T&D market grew by 3.51% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2024, marking a significant increase from the 1.13% growth rate in the first quarter. Traditional technology products maintained stable growth, with a 4.32% increase in Q3, close to the 4.93% growth seen in Q2. Notably, sales of laptops benefiting from trade-in subsidies experienced significant growth, increasing by 6.3% year-on-year. Additionally, computer accessories such as keyboards and mice also saw considerable growth, with the overall keyboard and mouse market experiencing a remarkable 17.6% year-on-year increase in Q3.
Benedict Hong, Customer Success Lead of GfK China, stated: “Smart features and cost-effectiveness have become the core competitive advantages in the T&D market. Companies need to accurately grasp new consumer demands for scenarios and functions under Full View insights, quickly upgrade and iterate products, and continuously meet consumers’ needs for convenience, performance, health, user-centered design, and sustainability.”
As the national trade-in subsidy policy takes root, the Chinese home appliance market saw a full rollout of this policy by the end of Q3, leading to a successful rebound in appliance categories, achieving a year-on-year growth of 1.4%. Among these, major appliances performed particularly well, with a year-on-year growth rate of 5.9%. According to GfK CMM data, retail sales of major appliances offline grew by 36.8% year-on-year in September 2024, significantly outpacing the overall offline home appliance market’s growth of 34.6%. Online sales of major appliances increased by 24.3% year-on-year, also surpassing the overall online home appliance market growth of 13.2%. In the segmented market, washing machines exhibited a strong growth trend, with a year-on-year growth rate of 12.5%. The performance of terminal sales indicates that the trade-in policy has positively impacted consumer replacement demand.
The DIY market declined by -5% in Q3 2024, with all product categories affected. Nevertheless, two sectors bucked the trend: furnishing/decoration grew by +2.8%, and gardening increased by +4.9%, driven by the strong performance of high-pressure cleaners (+38.7%) and mowers (+20.9%) in large DIY stores.
Howard He, Head of China T&D Retail Vertical and Home Appliance, noted: “The government subsidy policies in the second half have greatly tapped the consumption potential of the T&D market, especially for major appliances. Starting in August, various policies have been rolled out, and with their broad coverage, aggressive promotion, and convenient payment options, relevant product consumption has gradually shown explosive growth. This trend is expected to continue, especially with the Double Eleven sales event in Q4.”
Eva Ng, General Manager of Retail Business at NielsenIQ China, echoed this view, stating: “In the current retail landscape marked by price-driven volume, consumption stratification, and channel differentiation, grasping Full View insights is particularly important. Looking ahead to offline retail trends, we believe proximity retail will continue to be a focal point. Retailers should strengthen community foundations and tailor strategies to deepen local penetration. At the same time, retailers will shift from traditional price-driven volume models to value-oriented approaches, focusing on enhancing the overall value of products and services.”
About the Study
The NIQ Retail Spend Barometer examines consumer spending on FMCG and T&D products in China. It tracks real sales figures and measures changes in past purchase trends. The FMCG categories covered include Beverages, Ambient food, Frozen Food, Snacking, Dairy, Petcare, Homecare, Personal Care, Baby Care, Paper Products and the T&D categories include Technical Consumer Goods, Home Appliances, DIY and Home Improvement. The data comes from NielsenIQ and GfK retail market insight, which together measure the sales of over 350,000 retail partners worldwide. For more information, visit: NIQ Retail Spend Barometer (nielseniq.com) .
About NIQ
NielsenIQ (NIQ) is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. NIQ combined with GfK in 2023, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. Today NIQ has operations in 95+ countries representing 97% of the world’s GDP. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ delivers the Full ViewTM.
About GfK
GfK has earned the trust of our clients around the world by solving critical questions in their decision-making process. In 2023, GfK combined with NIQ, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach including operations in 95+ countries representing 97% of the world’s GDP. By joining forces, we fuel clients’ growth by providing a complete understanding of consumers’ buying behavior, and the dynamics impacting their markets, brands and media trends. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ and GfK deliver the Full ViewTM.
