Chinese plan to buy more 'fashionable' British goods says JGOO study

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 28, 2020

UK retailers have a huge opportunity in China as the country recovers from the coronavirus crisis with new research revealing that 76% of Chinese citizens who’ve previously bought British goods online plan to increase their spend this year.

The research comes from digital commerce specialist JGOO, which spoke to 303 Chinese citizens and said that when asked why they plan to buy more British goods online, 43% said it’s because such goods are becoming more fashionable in China. 

Interestingly too, 23% said it was because the profile of the UK had risen as a result of developments such as Brexit and the issues concerning Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. 

But there was bad news for US brands as 17% said they’re switching their focus to UK goods and away from American items because of the current tension between the US and China. They see British products as a good “alternative”.

But 41% of Chinese citizens who’ve made a UK purchase from China over the past two years have encountered difficulties doing this, with 8% describing the process as ‘very difficult’.  Only 56% said they found it easy to buy British goods online while in China. While that’s more than half, it still shows that many consumer are facing problems with the buying process.

The main issue they faced was a lack of social media or online platforms allowing them to ask questions in Mandarin or Cantonese, with 57% of respondents highlighting that problem. This was followed by 19% who said it was because they couldn’t pay using WeChat Pay or AliPay. Meanwhile 17% complained about there being no Mandarin or Cantonese version of the website.