China's fast moving consumer goods post 3% rise in third quarter

China’s fast moving consumer goods added 3.6 percent from a year ago in the third quarter after retailers sold more via online channels to meet consumer demand.

Sales of consumer goods through offline channels rose 2.2 percent, while those via online merchants jumped 24.3 percent, Kantar Worldpanel said in a latest research report today.

Sales through modern retail channel including hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores grew 2.9 percent in the third quarter, with offline retailers continuing to leverage technology capabilities to enhance shoppers’ experience, while domestic retailers continued to outperform international players.

E-commerce sales made up 7.4 percent of overall consumer goods sales, adding 1.7 percent from the same period a year ago. Kantar Worldpanel data show that as many as 60 percent of urban families have purchased consumer goods through online shopping sites in the past year, and in lower tier cities the proportion hit 50 percent.

Sun Art Retail Group, which operates Auchan and RT Mart brands, remained the leading player with 8.1 percent market share, up 0.4 percentage points from a year ago, followed by Vanguard Group’s 6.5 percent.

Expenditure in western and southern Chinese cities grew 6 and 4.2 percent respectively, outperforming the overall market.