Xiaohai Press: From imitation and pursuit, to the current diversification and leadership, women are changing the tide of the times with their own approved lifestyles. Only by understanding "her" consumption and demand can we obtain "real gold" in this wave.
Author | CBNData
Source | CBN Business Data Center (ID: CBNData)
From "following" to "leading", the role of women in the field of consumption has changed drastically.
The rise of online shopping has bridged the consumption restrictions of geography, and the boom of social media has built a common discourse space for female consumers. Through the Internet, the scattered "She Power" is gradually condensed, and women vote with consumption, choose the lifestyle they approve of, and make a declaration of the life concept they love.
To this end, CBNData has launched the "Our Proposition 2024 Women's Quality Life Survey" for the fifth consecutive year, in which we found that women's consumption propositions have been ahead of the times in many aspects:
They are willing to pay for emotional value and know how to relieve stress in a variety of ways, they are concerned about their health and will take action to improve it, at the same time, they can make more rational purchasing choices to meet their needs, and in the face of discipline and constraints, they have a liberal attitude and focus on consumer experience and self-satisfaction......
With the further awakening of women's consciousness, women's consumption has entered the "self-pleasing 2.0 era", which is no longer just "for themselves" consumption, but more diversified decision-making, more segmented needs, and clearer propositions.
Based on the survey results, CBNData released the "Our Proposition: 2024 Women's Quality Life Trend Insight Report" to understand women's situation, listen to women's voices, respect women's choices, and help build a truly women-friendly business and society.
Leading the new wave
"She consumption" has entered the era of autonomy
The decade of rapid growth of China's consumption is also a decade in which women's spending power is seen and valued. The rapid development of the economy has brought about the growth of women's income and the improvement of women's consumption power, and at the same time, women's consumption concepts have also undergone earth-shaking changes.
From 2021 to 2023, with the continuous recovery of the overall trend of the national consumer market, the driving role of female consumer groups in the upgrading of the consumer market will also become more obvious. According to Accenture's survey data, in 2022, there will be nearly 400 million women with strong domestic spending ability and willingness to spend, who are between the ages of 20 and 60, and the total annual consumption expenditure is as high as 10 trillion yuan.
In the field of tourism and entertainment consumption, which has grown strongly in recent years, women's spending power is leading the trend. According to the "2023 May Day Travel Data Report" released by Ctrip, during the 2023 May Day holiday, the hotel bookings of female users increased by more than 2 times compared with the same period in 2019, and the booking amount increased by more than 3 times, and the growth rate was significantly higher than that of male users, while QuestMobile's "2023 Summer Marketing Insight Report" also showed that in July and August 2023, female active users accounted for 55% and 72% of the concert app Ferris wheel ticketing and barley, respectively.
From the perspective of income structure, the narrowing of the gender income gap in the workplace is conducive to enhancing women's consumption autonomy. According to Zhaopin's 2023 China Women's Workplace Survey Report, the gender income gap in China's workplace was 2,222 yuan per month in 2019, and in 2023, the gap has narrowed to 1,253 yuan, and income equality between different genders is gradually being realized.
The postponement of the age of first marriage has prompted changes in the structure of the female consumer market. After marriage and childbirth, the proportion of households in women's consumption expenditure will increase, and the extension of women's single time will also lead to the growth of personal experience consumption. In CBNData's questionnaire survey of unmarried and married women, we found that unmarried women have a stronger demand for self-pleasing categories such as beauty and skin care, pet entertainment, perfume and fragrance, which also indicates that related vertical fields have more room for growth in the future.
This has jointly promoted the advancement of women's consumption concept from basic living needs to more diversified self-realization needs. Combined with the analysis of women's consumption structure at the macro level and the understanding of the real needs of micro individuals, we summarized four consumption propositions: "sensual wind direction", "rationalism", "health aesthetics" and "free life". At different stages of life, women's consumption concepts also indicate different life issues. Behind the consumption proposition, there is a woman's self-awareness and concept expression.
Be a quality life home
The four major consumer propositions refine the expression of women's lives
"Relaxation" leads the way for the senses
Fragrance healing and home scenes create a space for women to enjoy
At present, the discussion of gender issues is still in a period of collision of old and new concepts, and women are often faced with the innovation of concepts and the conflict between themselves and social concepts. As women become more involved in economic life, the contradictions of the original family, the need for self-realization, and the pressure of work and family have hit. Combined with keen awareness, women are more likely to have internal friction and mood swings. Female consumers are also looking for ways to heal their emotions and minds.
In the survey, we found that half of female consumers say they are using scents to relax, relieve stress and mood, and women in high-tier cities are more likely to demand this aspect. In addition, the demands of "improving the quality of life and happiness" and "creating a sense of scene atmosphere and feeling the fragrance atmosphere" have also been mentioned a lot, and women attach great importance to the quality of life and their own feelings.
In this context, the fragrance healing track has also ushered in a new growth point. Online data shows that from October 2022 to September 2023, the market size of fragrance care products on mainstream e-commerce platforms will be about 10.199 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 33.3%. With the gradual strong demand of female consumers for fragrance products, the use of fragrance scenarios has also been further expanded, gradually covering multiple scenarios such as bedrooms, balconies, and bathrooms. At the same time, personal care brands have taken advantage of the opportunity to enter the fragrance track and launched perfume fragrance base tone products to meet the fragrance healing demands of female consumers in multiple scenarios.
In addition to fragrance therapy, choosing a relaxed and soothing home style and creating your own relaxation space have also become an important way for women to relieve stress and find themselves.
In the survey of women's ideal home preferences, the intelligent and convenient whole-house intelligent technology style and the multi-functional style of "small space, large storage" have become the consensus of women's ideal homes of all ages. It is worth noting that the younger generation of female consumers, such as the post-05, post-00 and post-95s, have put forward a higher demand for home relaxation. Among them, with the characteristics of "effortless fashion and warm and tranquil healing", the cream-style home with low saturation of the overall tone has become the "top stream" of the relaxed home.
In addition, creating special scenes in the home space, such as green areas, small study rooms, coffee corners, camping areas, etc., can also help women take a short break from the fast-paced life, adjust their mood and rhythm of life, and regain a sense of control. In the survey, we found that more than 60% of female consumers believe that the creation of local space in the home can provide them with a miniature space to empty and heal themselves.
Virginia Woolf once wrote in A Room of One's Own: "If a woman is going to write a novel, she must have five hundred pounds a year, and a room of her own." The annual salary of five hundred pounds symbolizes the power of contemplation, and the lock on the door signifies the ability to think for itself". The exclusive space of the home is a rest area for women to take care of themselves inward. It is also a haven left for itself in the process of opening up to the outside world.
Precise skin care and fine care
"Self-pleasing" consumption is returning to rationalism
With the deepening of consumer education on concepts such as "precision skin care" and "fine care", women's consumption has now passed the stage of blind "planting", and rationalism is returning to personal care.
This is followed by a trend of precision in skin care concepts and refined solutions in the field of body care.
According to the survey, 58% of female consumers are more inclined to "fine skin care and zonal care" at this stage, and 47% of female consumers are more inclined to "targeted skin care and only care for a certain skin problem". Women of different generations also have different and diverse needs for skin care efficacy.
An important reference dimension for choosing precision care is the use of scientific and technological ingredients in the product. According to the White Paper on Trends in Skincare with Beauty, Luxury and Technology, the mass market dominated by "technology ingredients" accounts for about 48% of the total turnover in China's technology skincare market. In the questionnaire survey, we also found that 83% of contemporary female consumers believe that the blessing of skin care technology can better play the effect of ingredients. This has also driven brands to actively seek technological empowerment to achieve greater effectiveness of skin care ingredients through product technology upgrades and self-built R&D rooms.
With the extension of refined care scenarios to the field of washing and care, scalp health care has gradually attracted the attention of consumers, and the efficacy needs of women of different generations such as hair loss prevention, scalp cleansing and nourishment, and hair quality improvement have attracted the attention of women of different generations. From the perspective of shampoo product ingredients, amino acid shampoo products, which focus on gentle shampooing, performed strongly in sales.
FLAUHRA uses an amino acid formula to achieve a better balance of cleansing power and mildness. Contains a variety of natural ingredients and effects, improves the microecology of the scalp environment, fills the hair cuticle, cares for the health of the scalp while replenishing hair nutrition, and carries out scientific zonal care for the scalp and hair. In addition, the FLAUHRA hair series also introduces the century-old fragrance base of Delika, combined with ACTIMOOD emotional fragrance technology, to soothe the mood with a pleasant fragrance and enhance the sense of pleasure during use.
In addition, the concept of fine care has also affected the field of oral health, and it has become an inevitable trend for fine care to be "armed" to the teeth. According to data released by Frost & Sullivan, between 2016 and 2020, the mainland oral care market grew steadily, with total retail sales increasing from 49.6 billion yuan to 88.4 billion yuan, and the total retail sales of the market are expected to increase to 152.2 billion yuan in 2025. Women's high attention to oral care and its downstream segments will also drive the development of related consumer fields in the direction of segmentation and science.
Multi-dimensional exploration of healthy living
Practice health aesthetics with action
In the pursuit of personal achievement and social value, the concept of "health first" is also accepted by more and more women. In the face of widespread sub-health problems, women are also seeking solutions in person.
In the survey, we found that 84.7% of female consumers said that they had some health problems, and among them, there were certain differences in the health problems that different age groups were concerned about. Among the younger generation of women from the post-95s to the post-05s, emotional health, vision health, and scalp health problems are more concerned, and among the young and middle-aged women from the pre-80s to the post-90s, immune problems and gastrointestinal problems are more concerned.
In terms of the choice of ways to solve health problems, nearly sixty percent of women will choose to improve their health problems by purchasing nutritional health products, and the sales of nutritional health products with some subdivided effects have grown rapidly. In 2023, the consumption scale of women's digestive tract nutrition products on the online Tmall overseas channel increased by 177% year-on-year, and the consumption scale of women's bone and joint nutrition products increased by 15% year-on-year.
In addition to taking nutritional and health products, 69.3% of female consumers said that they would improve their health and enhance their physical fitness through "exercise and fitness". More than sixty percent of women will choose to practice at home, and yoga, dance and other methods have also become the exercise choices of many women. Exercise is not only a way to maintain good posture, but also to relieve stress and boost self-confidence. Through self-discipline exercises, more and more women have gained "her power" to meet the challenges of life in a better state.
At the same time, with the further popularization of the concept of healthy eating, female consumers are paying more and more attention to low-sugar diets, plant-based and raw health products. Reducing the burden on the body while obtaining nutritional value has also become one of the dining options for female consumers. CBNData found in the "2023 China Healthy Life Trend Report" that no burden on the body and less additives are the two major factors for consumers to choose sugar-free tea. In addition, the dietary concept with "green health" as the core concept is driving consumers to change to low-sugar, low-fat, plant-based, natural raw materials and other products, and there is still a lot of room for development in the future.
Express yourself with your outfits
Freedom to explore through travel and light socialization
In recent years, with the rise of women's consciousness, similar behaviors such as "serving the arts" in order to cater to social evaluation and wrapping themselves in clothing with low comfort have also triggered discussions and reflections among women.
#穿衣自由#话题在小红书平台持续引起热议, the number of views exceeded 1.4 billion, #反身材焦虑#等问题也在社交媒体端被反复探讨. In the survey, we found that nearly 60% of women believe that the freedom to dress can make the body and mind more enjoyable, and half of the women believe that expressing their individuality is an important demand for the freedom to dress. Consumers born in the 95s to 05s are interested in dopamine, new Chinese style, Lolita and other styles, while women in the young generation from the 80s to the 90s want to try dressing styles such as Maillard, Xiaoxiangfeng, and light luxury old money.
The diversity of dressing styles has led to a variety of accessory options. In order to match the diversity of dressing styles, the potential of women in the consumption of accessories is also becoming more and more prominent. In the survey, we found that more than 6 percent of consumers pay attention to the adaptability of jewelry, and originality, quality and experience have become important influencing factors for female consumers to choose accessories. This also requires accessories brands not only to pay attention to product creation, but also to build a three-dimensional brand culture and convey the brand concept from the inside out. In our observations, we also found that some small but beautiful accessories brands are becoming more and more choices for female consumers, and Riotlily is one of them.
On the basis of satisfying functional values, Riotlily advocates a way of self-expression, faces every "important moment" in life, regards it as a narrative, and uses the brand philosophy of "narrating life" with a complete self, drawing inspiration from nature and humanities and arts, and providing customers with a unique and high-quality comprehensive experience with highly decorative designer collections, themed stores with rich cultural attributes and community activities. With an elegant and uninhibited soul, Riotlily encourages women to explore inward and live their own lives, and is committed to bringing a unique sense of beauty and presence to every woman.
At the same time, more women are choosing to go out and see the bigger world and embrace new experiences. According to the survey, nearly half of women plan 1-2 trips for 3-5 days per year. From the slow-paced Citywalk to the fast-paced check-in of "special forces travel", women have also explored new travel methods such as "immersive travel photography" and "short walking" while relaxing and experiencing different regional cultures, injecting new vitality into the development of the tourism economy.
Behind the freedom to dress and travel is women's pursuit of self-expression and exploration of the world, while the social freedom represented by the "hitchhiker culture" supports countless experiential moments in women's daily life.
With the development of the single economy, more and more women have begun to break the life trajectory with the family life cycle as the core, create a more diversified life path, and have a richer social practice experience. From travel pairs, shopping pairs, and meal pairs, to fitness pairs, study pairs, and exhibition pairs, different hobbies and life aspects are satisfied by different interpersonal interactions. In the process of interacting with the outside world and others, the light social relationship of "seven minutes of familiarity" not only provides companionship, but also gives individuals enough freedom and space for choice.
End
Enjoy the world and look at yourself
In the process of brand development and marketing change, the perception of the role of women is constantly adjusting and revising. With the awakening of women's consciousness, we are also pleased to see that the research on women's consumption and the marketing of "she consumption" are also constantly innovating consciousness and deepening understanding.
From the initial stage of persuading women to make conspicuous consumption for external beauty, to the stage of constructing the value issue of "being yourself", guiding women to accept trendy products and satisfying their own preferences, and now discussing with women on issues such as "how to live freely" and facing gender dilemmas, the recognition and respect of brands and marketers for women's subjective consciousness are also constantly strengthened.
Not long ago, Social Touch released the "Phoenix Fighting to the End - Middle-class Women's Life Outlook and Consumption Insight Report in China's First-tier Cities", which seeks the "first principles" of their current situation in four aspects: career development, marriage and love, family fertility and hobbies from the perspective of women, and focuses on the emotional needs and pain points faced by women in a more "personalized" society in addition to the mainstream discourse of "personality independence". This not only reflects the new trend of "she economy" research, but also has reference significance for the customization of communication strategies between brands and women.
Hidden behind the consumption figures are vivid female individuals, who are participants, constructors and leaders of business while showing their consumption power.
As Cheryl Sandberg said to women in One Step Forward:
"I want you to find true meaning, fulfillment, and passion in life. I hope that you will be able to survive the difficult times ahead, and that you will gain greater strength and determination. I want you to balance your lives and keep your eyes open to finding. I also want you to be enterprising and put your heart and soul into your business to take control of the world. ”
I hope that in the future, more women will be able to enjoy a quality life, say "what we say", and bravely explore the life they are looking forward to.
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