China’s double 11 trends: Top-selling supplement brands revealed as TikTok takes-off as retail channel

22-Nov-2021 - Last updated on 22-Nov-2021 at 02:05 GMT

More consumers are using TikTok as a e-commerce shopping platform, says Swisse. ©Getty Images

Related tags double 11 China Tik Tok

The biggest-selling supplement brands in China’s mammoth Double 11 shopping festival have been revealed, while insights from Swisse have revealed the growing popularity of TikTok as an e-commerce channel.

The brand, which is part of the Hong Kong Exchange listed Health and Happiness Group (H&H Group), told NutraIngredients-Asia that Swisse’s gross merchandise value (GMV) on TikTok had shot up by 316 per cent this time round, when compared to the last major shopping festival 618 held in mid-June.

TikTok, also known as Douyin in Chinese, started off as a short video sharing platform but has now incorporated e-commerce as one of its functions.

“Douyin is increasingly popular as an online shopping destination, particularly among consumers born from the 1990s onwards.

“Its an engaging and interactive platform for consumers to experience new content, including hearing and learning about products. It is expected to get even more popular for online shopping as its user base grows,” H&H Group China CEO Suceka Li told us.

Li added that other video sharing platforms such as Shanghai-based Bilibili, which focused on long-form videos, were also suitable for consumer education activities.

For example, brands could talk about the functional benefits of its products through the platform. However, unlike TikTok, the platform does not have an e-commerce function.

Last year, TikTok hosted about US$26bn worth of sales of makeup, clothing, and other goods, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Double digit growth

Aside from TikTok, Li said that Swisse had reported double digit GMV growth and retained the top spot in several e-commerce platforms during the Double 11 sales.

For instance, Swisse was the leading imported health nutrition brand on JD Health – only behind China’s BY-HEALTH.

Swisse’s most popular products during the festival were 1) Swisse Calcium + Vitamin D mini tabs, 2) Swisse Liver Detox, and 3) Swisse Grape Seed.

Across all sales platforms, Swisse’s GMV had increased by double-digits as compared to last year’s festival.

“Our Swisse team is very pleased with these results at this year’s Double 11 festival, which reflects strong consumer demand for our high-quality, premium products,” Li said.

Top 10 brands

China’s health foods giant BY-HEALTH had continued its dominance three years in a row by leading the VDS charts on both JD and Alibaba’s sites.

It had achieved RMB$600m (US$93.9m) sales and a yoy growth of 38.3 per cent. Sales from its international product range had also achieved a yoy growth of 200 per cent.

A newcomer to the China market, Australia’s Brauer, also said its Tmall Flagship store had sold over 20k units of Brauer kids DHA within a day, which showed the power of livestreaming and e-commerce.

Fellow Australian brand Blackmores also hosted a livestream event for consumer education during the festival. It said that Omega Triple Super Strength Fish Oil, CoQ10 Heart Health and Mega B Complex were some of its popular products.

The following is the list of the bestselling health and nutrition brands in China during Double 11.

Best-selling health and nutrition brands on JD Health