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Digital innovations and holistic health in the Chinese market

Health and wellness consumers in China are much younger than in the West, according to industry experts who say a tendency to act preventatively rather than reactively, coupled with a digital-first culture, gives brands an opportunity to retain consumers for many more years throughout the lifespan.

And with more than 90% of the country’s consumers shopping via app, there are multiple opportunities for brands to engage with their audience via digital innovations such as virtual reality and live-streaming, says Zarina Kanji, head of business development and marketing for Tmall Global at Alibaba Group, UK and Nordics.

Merging past with present: A heritage of holistic health

China’s health and wellness industry was valued at $683 billion last year, making it the second-largest wellness market in the world after the US, according to statistics from the Global Wellness Institute. Meanwhile, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics reports that annual online retail sales have nearly doubled in the last five years.

Supplements in the health and wellness market are considered to be of such importance, they are often referred to as “the fourth meal”. Meanwhile, the notion of combining Traditional Chinese Medicine with modern supplements is “very, very popular”, Kanji said.

“Chinese consumers… really do look at history as well as modern science to their approach to wellness,” she added. “And this, of course, affects their mind as well.”

Digital innovations can help brands to engage with consumers by making shopping for wellness fun, she said.

“Making shopping fun in the wellness world helps with the holistic element because you have a problem, you want to solve it, your health isn't good. But if you can make that experience of purchase enjoyable, then overall it impacts your entire journey to wellness,” she added.

Digital innovations bridge the gap between online and offline

Live-streaming is one of the most popular ways that consumers in China access products, said Kanji. This format bridges the gap between online and offline, giving brands the opportunity to talk at length about their product and recreating the experience of speaking with an in-store sales associate who can inform customers about clinical trials, ingredients, or dosage.

“It's a really engaging format to do business and also for the consumers,” said Kanji. “We like to call it shoppertainment. It's shopping and it's entertainment, all rolled into one.”

Another novel digital format for delivering product expertise is via an artificial intelligence key opinion leader. Kanji used the example of Ariel, a virtual avatar launched by Holland & Barrett for Alibaba Group’s 11/11 festival last year – Singles’ Day, China’s biggest shopping holiday. Ariel was used to deliver product expertise to international consumers, offering “a really exciting way that you're able to change up and excite the customer”.

Kanji also referenced the metaverse, using a Swedish brand called Miracle as an example; it took part in a Metaverse experience as part of Goddess Day, another Chinese shopping festival.

“As a consumer, you could enter the metaverse: you become an avatar yourself and you can journey through and explore the different products that are available,” she explained. “And with Miracle, they also had a collectible NFT – a digital token that the consumers could buy along with this particular supplement product.”

And she warned that brands looking to reach new audiences should not discount the participation of older generations in this digital-first culture. The tech-savvy Granny is a “very, very, very big market in China”, she said.

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Key consumer trends in the Chinese market

Kanji highlighted beauty-from-within as a staple subcategory that has “forever” been one of the top performers in China, due to the fact that a holistic approach is “deeply ingrained” in its history.

“Looking right back to the Confucius era, there are sketches of Chinese women who are looking at their wellness – looking at how they look, but also considering their inner wellness,” she said. “And those two things have really worked hand in hand – that holistic mindset to beauty has always existed.”

Another defining characteristic of the Chinese consumer is that they are highly educated when it comes to health and wellness, she said. She used the example of the fish oil market as one that was “really growing fast in China”, adding that consumers are “very, very careful” in looking into the quality of the ingredient.

“Which sea did it come from? How quickly has that fish been taken from sea to an oil and to the bottling and the capsules? It goes down to that research, that timing, that wanting to be very aware of what you're putting into your body that Chinese consumers hold in such high regard,” she said.

Probiotics, too, present a “really exciting” market: last year, they grew 70% year-on-year as a category. While women's health, beauty-from-within, and gut health are growth categories also reflected in other global markets, there are some quirks unique to the China. Kanji used the example of probiotics for nasal health, of interest due to the high levels of pollution in many big cities.

“Looking for products that will help probiotically impact your microbiome through the nasal capacity is a very interesting category in China,” she said.

Kanji added: “It's all about the whole body, the whole mind, and that's how the Chinese consumer is really, really evolutionary – and revolutionary – in their approach to holistic health.”