Sandalwood data show that Lululemon 2Q23 MTD China online data growth of +60% y/y, while the offline data growth of +173% y/y, both online and offline leads the sportswear sector.

According to Sandalwood data, in Aug 2020, J&T Express had a daily order volume of 5 million, which increased to 10 million in Oct 2020 and surpassed 20 million in Dec 2020. In comparison, it took the Tongda faction (i.e., STO, YTO, ZTO and Yunda) more than ten years to reach 20 million daily orders. In May 2022, J&T Express exceeded 40 million daily orders. 

Cosmetics 6.18 pre-sale peaked above 2022/2021 level in late May. Sandalwood data suggests positive low-teens y/y growth in May + Jun MTD across top Chinese e-commerce channels , despite growing shifts to offline sales channels as offline activities at department stores, malls, DFS stores normalize in 2023 post-pandemic. 

According to Sandalwood's monitoring data on the China e-commerce platform, smartphone sales in the market witnessed a 2% year-on-year decline in the first four months of 2023, indicating a slight contraction. Specifically, from January to February, the market size decreased by 7%. However, there was a positive development as the market achieved a moderate growth of 5% from March to April. Nevertheless, compared to the same period in 2021, the market size still experienced a significant year-on-year decline of 10%. Overall, signs of recovery have emerged, albeit in a weak state.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter of 2023, the national online retail sales increased by 8.6% year-on-year to reach RMB 3.2863 trillion. Of this, the online retail sales of physical goods amounted to RMB 2.7835 trillion, up 73% year-on-year, accounting for 24.2% of the total retail sales of consumer goods. Against this backdrop, the Chinese pharmaceutical e-commerce market has experienced strong growth in the post-pandemic era.

Sandalwood China E-Commerce data points to positive effect of the launch - JD’s GMV growth y/y with the channel shows 5% increase compared to that excluding the channel. Its 10 Billion Subsidy Channel’s average weekly GMV of JD is ~60% of that of Pinduoduo as of March 23. The channel takes around 5% of JD’s total GMV, within a similar range of when Pinduoduo first launched its 10 Billion Subsidy Channel. 

Zoom in on Hong Kong, Thailand, and Macau — Sandalwood Real-Time Tourism Tracker shows the amount of retail transactions by Mainland Chinese consumers in Hong Kong rebounded to +49% y/y in Jan-23 from -5% y/y in Dec-22, -81% vs. Jan-19. Thailand is also looking positive, with the amount of retail transactions bouncing to +437% y/y in Jan-23 from +244% y/y in Dec-22. Meanwhile, Macau saw the figure rose to +55% y/y in Jan-23, -57% vs. Jan-19. The later-released government reporting points to the same directional trends.

One Plus Ace 2 officially launched on February 13th. According to Sandalwood's China E-Commerce data, Ace 2 e-commerce sales grew 332% YoY compared to the previous generation as of Feb 21, elevating ACE series sales to a new high. One Plus' e-commerce market share in turn grew to 6.4%.   

In 2022, the Chinese e-commerce market saw resilience and steady growth in consumer electronic consumption. The market experienced significant fluctuations under the impact of the pandemic and macro factors. Take Smartphone category as an example - 93 million smart phones were sold in 2022, representing a 6% YoY decrease as shown by Sandalwood China E-Commerce Data. During the months of March, April, August, September, November, and December which were heavily affected by the pandemic, the market experienced significant declines at around 15%. Coupling with major promotional events such as "618" and "Double Eleven", the e-commerce market sales surely went through a roller-coaster ride.

  Sandalwood China Auto Insurance data indicates below-seasonal level car deliveries of Tesla in December at 37,723 as of Dec 25. Hangover effects from strong November delivery and weak consumer demand despite additional subsidies are likely the main culprits.  

 Sandalwood e-commerce data shows Temu weekly GMV reached 34 million USD in the 2nd week of Dec-22 (average daily GMV ~4.7 million), +57 % m/m increase compared to Nov-22’s average daily GMV of 3 million. The average selling price on the platform gradually rose from 2.9 USD in early Nov-22 to 5 USD in mid Dec-22, while the discount ratio dropped from 60% to 50% during the same period. Both GMV and sales volume peaked in the week of Nov 21-30, likely due to Black Friday promotion. 

While many retail sectors are taking time to react, COVID-related medicine and medical equipment online sales have seen a strong surge following COVID measure easing in China. Share prices of Aliheath (0241.HK) and JD Health (6618.HK) soared 100+%, 45+% respectively since Nov 11 (date of announcement).

Overall offline sectors remain weak in Nov MTD (Nov 1-27), Housing sector continuing to underperform the most, as rising Covid cases and strict policies weigh on consumer spending. However, partial improvement is expected in Dec vs. Nov as key regions like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu started to ease policy in early Dec by no longer requiring negative test proof when going to venues such as shopping malls and restaurants.

Sandalwood China E-Commerce Data shows the cumulative sales volume of China online cellphone sales reached 76.49 million from January to October 2022, a 3% y/y decline compared to 2021. E-commerce channel has taken 1/3 of the overall market sales. Compared to the 12% y/y decline of the whole cellphone market (online+offline), e-commerce channel remains resilient.

Sandalwood E-Commerce data showed online cellphone sales reached 6.8 million units during Oct 20 – Nov 5 in China, 2.3 times the sales volume during regular period (Oct 1-19). JD accounts for 44% of the overall online sales, whereas Tmall, Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou account for 39%, 13%, 4%, 4% respectively. Sales on JD, Tmall, Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou were 2, 5, 1.4, 3.3, 4.6 times that of regular sales period (Oct 1-19).

The online marketplace is a subsidiary of Pinduoduo which successfully rose through fierce competition in the China e-commerce space. Just one month after it went live, Temu has ranked among the most downloaded shopping apps in the US.

According to Sandalwood China E-Commerce data, PICO4’s cumulative e-commerce sales volume reached 46,000 up till Oct 14 - among which JD, Tmall, Douyin respectively accounted for 65%, 17%, 17%. 

iPhone 14 series pre-order and preliminary sales showed: 1) similar performance as iPhone 13 series with slight year-over-year decline; 2) standard models have seen significant decline while Pro series achieved sizable year-over-year growth.

Tesla beat market expectation and finished 4Q21 strong with 116,236 delivery units in China, attaining +92% y/y growth. Xpeng and Li Auto also showed positive momentum with 41,751 and 35,221 delivery units respectively in 4Q21, while Nio had a mediocre 4Q21 performance with 25,034 units delivered.

The fast growing China cosmetics market has been increasingly gaining investors’ attention. The emergence and rise of domestic players widened choices for consumers and exerted fierce competition into the market, encouraging brands to adapt quickly and seek more effective strategies. 

In what many considered as a very bold move at the height of COVID-19 in 2020, Haidilao expanded massively — reaching a total of 1597 stores by June 2021. Unfortunately this delivered a disappointing blow to Haidilao’s bottomline. Stock price dropped continually at a staggering 74% from its peak on Feb 17 to Nov 8 this year. 

There has been an ongoing shake-up in China's e-commerce industry lately. While Pinduoduo has been taking share gradually from traditional e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD since late 2020 mainly in sportswear and apparel sector

China is one of the biggest markets for luxury worldwide. The luxury market in China has seen a healthy growth versus the same period two years ago for the first half of 2021(+107%YoY2). 

Ride-hailing giant Didi is at a critical crossroads--just a month into its June 30 blockbuster IPO in the US, only to be followed days later by a string of Chinese government regulatory-related problems. 

Logistics plays a substantial role in Chinese people's daily life, and the industry is fundamental to maintaining stable supply chains. Although the pandemic suppressed the overall domestic demand especially during the onset of the outbreak in 2020, 

Once upon a time in the not-so-distant past, Nike and Adidas were enjoying what seemed to be an unbreakable bond with their Chinese fans. Both brands have very popular flagship products with loyal followers, such as the Adidas Yeezy, Nike Air Max, Nike Air Jordan.

The food and beverage industry was the most impacted and devastated business during the COVID pandemic, costing hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue loss and millions of jobs shuttered across the globe. Haidilao (6862.HK), the most dominant hot pot chain in China with 1,298 stores globally and employing a workforce upwards of 15,000,

2020 was a great year for Xiaomi. As a starter, its solid online channels helped absorb the negative impact from Covid-19. Its new models (many featuring 5G at a steep discount vs. T1 players) outperformed the old ones which speaks volumes about the company's strength in innovation. 

Kuaishou’s meteoric rise to the top culminated during its February 5, 2021 Hong Kong debut that raised $5.4 billion from its initial public offering, raising its shares nearly 200%. The blockbuster deal placed Kuaishou at the top as the world’s biggest internet IPO since Uber Technologies Inc.’s $8.1 billion share sale in the US in May 2019. 

Casio's stock price is up more than 50% YTD in 2019, as the Japanese company’s Watch sector has surpassed people’s expectations as well as the industry as a whole, and China is the primary region driving the surprise recently. 

China raised its sales target for electrified cars to account for 25% of automobile sales by 2025, according to The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as the country tries to reduce air pollution as well as its reliance on oil import. Although its penetration rate is currently 5%, it remains on the growth trajectory incentivized by governments' stimulus policies. 

China is seeing a good recovery on a variety of its economy activities. This shows that if a country is effective in containing Covid-19, the economy can also go back on track. After checking with various big shopping malls in mainland China, we confirmed that offline shops are mostly closed in early Feb and started to reopen in the late Feb.

Yatsen Global (YSG US) stock price soared +75% on Nov 19th, 2020 on its trading debut on NYSE. Yatsen has successfully launched three brands: Perfect Diary, Abby’s Choice, and Little Ondine. The secret behind Yatsen’s success is its digitally-native approach to consumers. The company’s products target Gen Z customers who are generally more tech-savvy and price sensitive.

Community group buying, an e-commerce model of group purchases by residents within the same neighborhood, is becoming increasingly popular since second half of 2020. This industry sprang out in 2018, but reshuffled and depressed in 2019 due to hundreds of uneven players and poor regulations. However, after its re-entry into 2020 and especially impacted by the COVID situation

When iPhone X was launched in late 2017, it steer up excitement of OLED industry, as OLED was always regarded as future of display due to its advantage of crisper and easier on batteries than their liquid-crystal predecessors. 

Estee Lauder (EL) reported its full-year 2017 earnings on August 18th, 2017, showing strong results, with investors rewarding it with a pop in the stock price.  Total sales were up 5%. Driving that growth was China, with sales were up 40% for the year. 

Michael Kors (KORS) has won the bidding war for Jimmy Choo for $1.2bn, beating out Coach (COH) and a number of private investment firms.  At a 37% premium to Jimmy Choo's market cap before it put itself up for sale, the valuation is steep, especially considering the 17.5x adjusted EBITDA for the trailing 12 months ending Dec 31

Danish jewelry company Pandora A/S has had a fairly good run in China over the last year. Year-over-year growth in China was well north of 100% for 2016, making China the a bright spot as sales in the US and UK slowed.

Tesla recently announced their intent to manufacture vehicles in Shanghai, riding China's potential as a huge market for electric vehicles. While still a relatively small portion of Tesla sales overall, it's worth noting that Tesla's China sales tripled from 2015 to 2016, to hit the $1 billion mark. But while Tesla's visibility as a brand has made its China ambitions well-publicized (and some would say well-hyped), China hasn't escaped the notice of traditional automakers.

China's New Oriental Education and Technology Group (or "New Oriental",NYSE:EDU) is the largest provider of private educational services in China. Along with TAL Education Group (NYSE:XRS), New Oriental has lead the way in China's fast-growing K-12 after-school tutoring services.

Sportswear brands in China are benefitting from a fitness boom, partially due to a government-backed fitness push. China's "athleisure" market is growing and both domestic and foreign sportswear brands are seeing increasing sales.

Due to the ongoing THAAD controversy, Chinese consumers have boycotted Korean businesses and curtailed tourism to Korea. While it's clear that the impact on Korean duty-free stores is quite negative, nobody quite knows just how bad. 

Yes, in a big way, according to this recent article on Consultancy.uk. Since their data stops at 2015, Sandalwood's research team decided to see what our own data was saying for 2016-2017.  Did these trends continue? Or did the trend slow? 

China's resurgent appetite for branded luxury goods has driven luxury stock prices through the roof.  Kering, Moncler, Burberry, LVMH are all trading at or near all-time highs, with the rest of the luxury retail sector up strong YTD as well.