The health crisis and the nursery business

The coronacrisis has caused a dramatic change in our industry. Now the BCMI members report about the current business situation resulting from the coronavirus infection in various countries. Read here in a new series of articles on how industry, retailers and consumers have been affected by the pandemic.

Part 2: China

by Nursery China and May Liang, President of the China Toy and Juvenile Products Asssociation

How are nursery producers/distributors in your country doing right now?

“For those nursery producers who do export business, many orders have been postponed and some cancelled because of the pandemic. For producers who focus on the domestic market, however, business hasn’t been affected much.”

How has the behavior of consumers of baby products changed?

“In China, consumer behaviour changed a lot because of the nationwide quarantine. Many consumers shifted their shopping from bricks-and-mortar to the e-commerce channel. Taobao, JD, T-mall are the top three online shopping platforms. Especially during the quarantine time, the sales on JD increased dramatically: since JD has its own shipping system, products can be delivered more on time compared with others.”

What could replace trade exhibitions in our industry this year?

“Due to the pandemic, most trade shows have been cancelled or postponed to the second half of the year. In China, some show organizers start trying digital exhibitions which showcase their exhibitors and products via website or app on Wechat. However, digital exhibition as a new concept received more attention when it was first introduced into the market, while offline trade exhibition is irreplaceable to the industry, because people like to touch and feel the physical products and prefer to talk to each other face to face. Since the situation in China is better now, 2020 China Kids Expo is preparing as planned, to be held from October 21 to 23.”