Chinese consumers have long enjoyed the annual ritual of shopping in the run-up to Spring Festival in January or February, and now e-commerce is beckoning shoppers worldwide to share in the fun.
Elena Zhang, sales manager of Xi’an Silk Road Crafts Co, said the company started receiving overseas orders for Spring Festival in July last year.
One order last month came from Spain, for more than 1,000 red hanging lanterns made of Chinese fabric.
Orders for various products related to Chinese New Year had come in from Canada, France, Germany and Russia, she said. AliExpress, a website that sells made-in-China products to overseas customers, is by far the most used online shop.
“Overseas buyers usually place their Spring Festival orders in summer. But we have had orders at the end of the year, too. Enthusiasm overseas in Chinese New Year shopping seems to be increasing, and e-commerce is helping increase sales.”
Sales by AliExpress to overseas consumers from the city of Yiwu, Zhejiang province, well-known as a centre for small commodities, have risen sharply since the company began to ship worldwide on Dec 31.
To the end of January it had shipped more than one million parcels overseas. One of the companies making full use of this new service is Yiwu Wonderful Lantern Co.
Xia Rongwang, the company’s manager, said many overseas orders had been placed since the middle of January, especially from overseas Chinese in countries such as Malaysia.
“Our China Dream series of lanterns are the bestsellers among overseas Chinese this year. Some buyers have said the lanterns make them feel as though they are back home celebrating the new year.”
Apart from Spring Festival-related items such as lanterns, overseas consumers are buying other products made in China selling at bargain prices in the holiday period and just before it. DHgate, a Chinese online wholesale marketplace, said sofa and bed cushions are particularly popular among Canadian shoppers.
Russians are said to be the most numerous overseas buyers. AliExpress says they love buying clothes made in China, their keenness to shop online spurred by a depreciating rouble. Consumers in countries where winters tend to be very cold buy made-in-China down jackets and other winter-wear.
Felix Zhang, sales manager for Shaoxing Goldson Dress Co in Zhejiang province, said Chinese down jackets in the $40 to $47 price range are popular among buyers in Kazakhstan, Estonia and Latvia. “We offer discounts of up to $500 for buyers who order more than 10,000 down jackets. The reason is obvious: Online selling means we cut the costs resulting from going through intermediaries.”