December 23, 2022|Accessories, Hats
There are a variety of hats made by people from different cultures. Similar to the clothing category, hats are also in demand according to the season and trends. Hat brands seeking to enter the Chinese market need to know what kinds of hats are popular locally. There has been a significant increase in the market for accessories in China recently, and you should be aware of the trends and market situation when it comes to fashion hats and caps in China.
Contents
Overview and Insights on the Chinese Hats Market
Caps & Hats Market Value in China
First and foremost, you need to know the value of a market before you enter it. Is the market important? Are there enough competitors for it to be so big? In 2022, Statista estimates that the Chinese hats and caps market will be worth 6.63 billion USD.hats and caps market has a 6.63 billion USD market value in 2022. With a market value of 25.87 billion USD, the Chinese market currently takes 25.6% of the global hats and caps market 25.6% of the global hats and caps market.
The Hats & Caps Market for Men, Women, and Children in China
Among the Chinese population, who buys hat products primarily? The market value of women's hats & caps in China is estimated to be 3.37 billion USD in 2022. This is 50.8% of the total market of China. Women's hats are still the most important category in China in 2022.In 2022, the women’s hat market is still the most important category in China.
Chinese Customers are More Willing to Buy Hats Online
The Chinese tend to rely more on online shopping than offline retail due to China's advanced e-commerce. The online sales of women's, men's, and children's hats and caps are expected to account for 58.7%, 59%, and 60.4% of their market value by 2022. Compared to the Global market with 35.2%, 35%, and 32% online sales, brands need to put more emphasis on online sales in China.
Guess Whose Hats are More Expensive on Average? Men’s!
There will be 1039.7 million hats and caps sold for women, 505.3 million for men, and 465.3 million for children in 2022. The average price of men's hats and caps is 4.85 USD. The average price of women's hats and caps is 3.24 USD, and the average price of children's hats is 0.3 USD. While women's hats take a larger share of the market than men's hats, Chinese males buy a higher-priced hat.Chinese male customers are buying more expensive hats than females.
Trends in China: What is On Time? What is Emerging?
Street Wear Leading to the Rise of Fisherman Hat
Younger generations (Gen Z) of Chinese fashion lovers are putting more emphasis on fisherman hats. With the rise of the hip-hop trend in China, many fashion youths are willing to dress in a street style. It has been a common choice for them to show their taste and find similar people through their outfits. They will show a strong need of uniqueness in detail for their outfits inadvertently and with their choice of accessories and other clothing. As a result, fisherman hats became increasingly popular. Year-over-year, the search for fisherman hats on Douyin increased by 58.1% in the winter of 2022.search for fisherman hats on Douyin had a 58.1% year-on-year growth. The image of fisherman hats has been changed from outdoor headwear to a symbol of fashion.
Berets are Popular for Making your Face Looks Smaller
Most Chinese customers are motivated by the appearance of the hat when they purchase a hat. In China, berets are popular for making faces appear smaller.This made berets popular in China for making their face looks smaller. According to CBN Data, the search for berets on Douyin has grown by 64.7% in 2022. More female customers are willing to buy a beret for this reason.
The Unisex Trend and the Boyish Girl Trend
As the unisex trend continues to develop, the fixed gender of clothing is blurring or showing a sense of contrast by mixing elements of different sexes. The trend is affecting more and more fashion lovers in China, especially girls. The boyish girl is an idea born from the unisex trend, Gen Z girls are discovering themselves from the fashion trends. In 2021, videos about boyish girls on social media have grown by 59.5%, with a +147.8% growth in total views.In 2021, videos about boyish girls on social media have grown by 59.5%, with a +147.8% growth in total views.
Caps are Still the Main Category in Hats
In 1860, the Brooklyn Excelsiors wore the ancestor of the modern rounded-top baseball cap, which featured a long peak and a button on top. By 1900, the “Brooklyn-style” cap became popular. Although baseball does not have a big audience in China, this product related to baseball does have a big market in China. Actually, the relationship between caps and baseball is very small, because, unlike English or French, caps are also called “hats” in Chinese. In this way, caps became a very normal category in hats. For its function of sheltering people from sunlight and being suitable for both women and men, it is taking a huge market share in China.
Caps are Leveraged by the Light Sporty Trend in China
How to Promote my Hats and Caps in China?
Function + Scene + Emotion = the Marketing Formula in 2022-2030
How can marketing in China be done in the 2020s? Customer needs must be your priority. It is common for Chinese customers to ask themselves why they need to buy something. What are the uses of this product? In what scenes can I wear it? The two questions are about functionality and scenes. However, that's not enough to persuade them to choose your product. What emotion your product is delivering become a key leverage to win the market.
MARKETING FORMULA IN CHINA -->FUNCTION + SCENE + EMOTION
Take the success of fisherman hats as an example. The function of a fisherman hat is to block the sunlight, its scene is street and outdoors, and the emotion it delivers is comfort, happiness, and imagination. Three factors enable a fisherman hat to be marketed more effectively in China because they create a 3D image of what the product will provide.
Show How to Make an Outfit on Social Media
A hat that matches one's outfit is always needed to complete one's outfit. Promoting on social media to show how your hat looks in different outfit styles can be a good strategy. Chinese customers are now putting more eyes on the outfit’s appearance than the brand name. So when your hat looks good on different outfits, it convinces your customer to purchase.
To reach that target, you can cooperate with KOLs and KOCs on Douyin and Xiaohongshu. Both of these 2 social media are very popular in China. Users of Douyin and Xiaohongshu are looking forward to learning the outfits of those KOLs and KOCs. Releasing KOL or KOC campaigns showing different ways to wear your hats can grow your visibility among their audiences and have a better effect than traditional advertising.
Xiaohongshu: The Fashion-Focused Social Media
In 2022, Xiaohongshu now has more than 200 million monthly active users, of which 70% of them are female, 72% of them are younger generations, and 50% of them are from first and second-tier cities. This user base made fashion a top topic on Xiaohongshu. According to the data from Qiangua Research, the Top 1 tag on Xiaohongshu is Fashion lovers, counting for 19.6% of their users, while 8.96% of them are focusing on outfits. Promote your hats on Xiaohongshu can target your audience directly and effectively.
Baidu SEO: A Must for Your Online Reputation
This is on your brand level, it’s the solution when your customers doubt your reputation. Chinese customers are more willing to purchase a product from a brand with an online reputation. The very basic demand is to see you on the top when they search your brand name. Just like what you might be doing on Google, search engine optimization on Baidu is very necessary for China. Since Google is blocked in China, you really need to repeat what you did with Google on Baidu, the No.1 search engine in China.
What’s more, you can also build your brand profile on Baidu Baike (the Chinese Wikipedia) to show your brand history and story. Or you might want to take advantage of Baidu Zhidao for QA campaigns. Both of them can help you with your brand’s online reputation.
E-commerce is the Key to Sales in China
As we have discovered, the online sales of hats in China have taken around 60% of the market value. This made e-commerce very important for your brand. In China, there are 3 main e-commerce platforms Tmall, JD, and Taobao. You can open a flagship store on Tmall or JD to show your orthodox. Depending on your business license, you can also choose to open your store on Tmall Global or JD Global, which saves you time and effort in applying for a Chinese business license.
Combine your E-commerce with Marketing on Social Media
How to convert the result of your marketing activities into sales matters and how much your revenue can benefit from all your effort. Since social media has become a must for your marketing in China, why not combine it with your e-commerce? Here we introduce you to 2 plans:
The first solution is to redirect your audience on social media to your e-store on Tmall or JD. You can put CTA (Call To Action) content in your copyrighting with a quick link. Your audience on social media like Douyin or Xiaohongshu can copy the quick link for a quick redirect to your product page on e-commerce.
The second option is to open your e-shop on these social media. Yes, you read it right, you are available to open a store on both Douyin and Xiaohongshu. This way your customers are able to place orders in one single tap, but it takes extra cost for an e-shop on these social media.
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