Young shoppers more enthusiastic about Singles Day

Singles Day hasn't lost its popularity and young Chinese consumers are showing more enthusiasm in the annual shopping festival this year, a new survey finds.

Conducted by Lexin Fintech, the survey collected over 3,000 responses from users between 20 and 30 years old across China through its e-commerce platform Fenqile, its main product serving mostly Gen-Z.

Forty percent of the respondents said they are “more enthusiastic” about this Singles Day event than the previous years, while around a third said they feel the same compared with before.

Over a half of the surveyed expect to spend more on this Singles Day than last year’s, indicating limited financial impact on young Chinese consumers by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among this group, 30 percent plan to raise spending “significantly” and 21 percent expect to raise spending by 10-30 percent.

Meanwhile, younger Chinese generation has become more calculated with their spending. More than 75 percent of the respondents said they will keep monthly repayment under 30 percent of their monthly living expenses; 87 percent of the respondents said they have never missed a repayment before.

While preferring a “buy now, pay later” lifestyle, over 60 percent of those surveyed said it usually takes over two days for them to make an installment purchase decision.

Male customers are significantly more optimistic about their future personal finances, as demonstrated in higher installment usage among them, compared with female customers.

Male shoppers account for around 68 percent of customers during the Singles Day event on Fenqile, and 42 percent of male respondents said they are “more enthusiastic” about the shopping spree this year than the previous years, compared with 30 percent of the female respondents who said the same.