Women favor value over brand in shopping

Urban women in China value cost performance when purchasing goods, according to a report released by Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform, and cnwomen.com.cn.

As the mobile internet makes product information more transparent, women become more discriminating in shopping, the report said.

Of the top four cities in which women have demonstrated the strongest consumption power, Beijing ranks first, followed by Guangzhou, Guangdong province; Shanghai; and Shenzhen, Guangdong, the report said.

In first- and second-tier cities, women are interested in cost-effective consumption, abandoning the blind pursuit of major brands, it said.

Forty-eight percent of women polled nationwide said value is a major considerations. In first-tier cities, 54 percent said value mattered.

Saving money is rational when it comes to personal and family finances. And careful buying is a sort of financial planning, the report said.

On e-commerce platforms, 40 percent of female buyers like to shop — as in the real world — with their friends. And 93 percent of them share merchandise with acquaintances, the survey found.

As women born in the 1990s begin becoming the backbone in careers and families, they also become the main force in shopping on e-commerce platforms, accounting for more than half the consumers, the report said.

Women born in the 1990s have known about discount seasons and the use of coupons from an early age. They make clear calculations to avoid wasting money.

Data show that 65.3 percent of active users on Pingduoduo are women, indicating women are the main force and decision-makers in family consumption.