Packaging Order Watch: FMCG Rebounds, E-Commerce Climbs, Luxury and Agricultural Demand Surges

Packaging is often viewed as a barometer of economic activity. This year, industry sentiment has been under pressure: exports have been a rare bright spot, while domestic demand orders have been seen as slow to recover, leaving many in the sector pessimistic about consumption at home.

Look at it from another angle: continuous, even unchecked, capacity expansion in packaging may itself explain why orders feel so scarce. Official figures, meanwhile, indicate that domestic consumption is not that weak.

A report from Kantar Worldpanel released on November 9 found that FMCG market growth rebounded in the 12 weeks ended October 8, 2021. The south was the key growth engine, up 2.4% year on year, while e-commerce continued its climb with 13.8% growth in the recent 12 weeks.

In the latest 12 weeks, 72.2% of urban households bought FMCG via e-commerce, with purchase frequency up 25.5% to 6.6 times. Among leading platforms, Tmall + Taobao penetration reached 45.6%, down 0.5 percentage points year on year; JD.com + Yihaodian stood at 17.9%, up 0.7 percentage points; and Pinduoduo reached 26.1%, up 9.3 percentage points.

JD.com: Luxury order value up 100% year on year

During JD.com's 11.11 pre-sale, luxury pre-sale order value increased 115% year on year, with footwear, apparel and bags hitting new sales records. Luxury footwear pre-sale order value jumped 3.6 times, luxury apparel rose 180%, and luxury bags climbed 105%.

More than 15 luxury brands saw pre-sale order value rise over 200% year on year. Tod's grew 20 times, while over 30 niche trendy designer brands exceeded 5x growth. In watches, Breitling rose 225%, Mido 145%, Chinese original designer watch brand CIGA Design 36 times, and Longines HydroConquest mechanical steel bracelet watches 34 times. Watches and eyewear pre-sale order value increased 80%, with Chinese-style watch brands setting a 36x growth record.

Italian footwear and leather brand Tod's proved a consumer favorite, with pre-sale order value up 20 times year on year. Affordable luxury bags stood out: within four hours of opening on October 20, sales surpassed the full first pre-sale day of the previous year.

As Generation Z becomes a core consumer force, trendy designer labels are driving shopping momentum. During JD.com's 11.11 pre-sale, designer brand pre-sale order value rose 16 times, and more than 30 niche trendy designer brands grew over 5x. Stone Island, BE@RBRICK and GUIDI increased over 10x, while two BE@RBRICK block bear trend toy blind box gift figures sold out within 8 seconds of pre-sale launch.

Pinduoduo: National Day holiday agricultural orders surge 279% year on year

On October 8, new e-commerce platform Pinduoduo released its Golden Week consumption trend report. During the National Day holiday, personalized and quality-driven demand kept rising. Compared with the previous year's Golden Week, the number of consumers whose total payment amount grew by over 100% year on year increased 64%. Supported by the 10 billion subsidy program, Apple digital products, camping gear, smart small home appliances and Chinese-style clothing became popular group-buying items.

As China's largest platform for agricultural products going to market, Pinduoduo also enjoyed a golden week for agricultural sales. Agricultural-related orders during the holiday surged 279% year on year. Signature products from across the country—Yuncheng apples from Shanxi, Zhanhua winter jujubes from Shandong, Huili pomegranates from Sichuan, and hairy crabs from Gucheng Lake and Hongze Lake in Jiangsu—were especially popular.

Suning: High-end appliance orders up 52%

In the latest Double 11, platforms focused their upgrades on specialization, experience and incremental growth. During the campaign, bundled orders for high-end home appliances priced above 10,000 yuan rose 52% year on year; trade-in participation across all channels increased 57%; energy-saving appliances accounted for 68%; and smart home product sales grew 108%. In-store experience visits on Double 11 rose 137% year on year, with more than 60% of young people joining food and audio-visual experience activities.

Shanghai CIIE: Consumer orders reach 5.84 billion USD

Procurement demand tied to consumption upgrading remained robust. Food and agricultural products and consumer goods were the two exhibition zones with the largest intended order value and the most concentrated procurement. Intended deals in food and agricultural products reached 3.43 billion USD, up 10.5% year on year and 42% of total transaction value, mainly meat, fruit, vegetables and dairy. Consumer goods intended deals reached 2.41 billion USD, up 32% and 30% of the total. High-end consumer goods imports stayed strong, with major deals frequent; L'Oréal and Estée Lauder each recorded intended deals exceeding 1 billion USD, highlighting the influence of an international consumption center city.

End-market consumer trends shift rapidly, so traditional packaging companies must move beyond a wait-for-orders mindset. Tracking market signals, taking the initiative and using professional expertise to deliver value-added services may become essential for packaging firms going forward.

Packaging plants without unique competitiveness and relying only on price competition have no future.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-378729.html