China Health Supplements Market Data Pack - June 2023

Strong Recovery in Consumption of Overseas Health Supplements During '618' Promotion

According to the recent survey by the People’s Bank of China, residents’ inclination towards “more consumption” increased by 1.2% in the second quarter on a quarter-on-quarter basis, signaling a rebound in consumer willingness. Retail data from the National Bureau of Statistics also confirms the recovery in consumption. National online retail sales of physical goods reached 4.81 trillion yuan, accounting for over one-fourth of total retail sales and showing a year-on-year increase of 11.8%.

Against the backdrop of consumption recovery, as the first post-pandemic “618” shopping festival in China, this year’s Taobao “618” has lived up to expectations. Although downgrading consumption has become a recent hot topic, significant promotions during shopping festivals can still pique consumers’ interest in hoarding goods. Consumers are enthusiastic about purchasing high-priced essential items during major promotional periods. In the post-pandemic era, there has been an explosive demand for “health consumption,” with health supplements being increasingly recognized as essential products by a growing number of consumers. Health supplements have emerged as one of the prominent consumer hotspots during the “618” promotion.  In June 2023, overseas health supplements experienced a strong recovery, with sales exceeding 1.8 billion yuan, reaching the peak since December last year, with a year-on-year growth of 14.69% and a month-on-month growth of 15.12%. Among them, multiple overseas brands such as Swisse, GNC, and Blackmores achieved impressive success.

June 2023 Highlights

• Cardiovascular nutrition supplements dominate the overseas health product market. As cardiovascular health management gains more public attention, sales of cardiovascular nutrition supplements on Taobao and Tmall platforms reached nearly 360 million yuan in June 2023, with several fish oil products ranking as best-sellers.
• Swisse maintains a significant lead in sales, surpassing GNC and Blackmores. During the “618” promotion, Swisse gained a large fan base on the Tmall platform through fan interactions in live streaming rooms.
• Among the top-selling products, the krill oil product from Reaps emerged as the bestseller, affirming the public’s growing focus on cardiovascular health. Swisse’s calcium product and liver detox product exhibited a strong sales performance, securing three positions on the monthly sales list and four positions on the monthly sales volume list. GNC Men’s Vitapack claimed the fifth spot on the monthly sales list. Since its launch in July last year, GNC Men’s Vitapack has garnered consistent popularity, maintaining its position in the top five monthly sales list of overseas health supplements for the past four months. This sustained success highlights the product’s appeal to customers in the market.

It’s worth noting that sales and volume of overseas health supplements during this year’s “618” promotion month were lower than those of last year’s “Double 11” promotion month. In June 2023, sales on Taobao and Tmall platforms decreased by 19%, while the sales volume decreased by 7% compared to November 2022. This decline in performance highlights the challenge of attracting consumer attention in the current landscape of increasing e-commerce promotion events, as consumers are becoming less responsive to promotions. TMO Group will continue to update e-commerce transaction trends for  overseas health supplements, assisting brands and merchants in improving customer acquisition capabilities in the competitive market.

For more detailed information, please download the report!

This data pack includes:

• Analysis of the month’s trends and biggest winners
• The month’s best-selling products
• Sub-category market share
• Market share by price range
• Most popular brands
• Brand price distribution
• Best-selling product characteristics

Who are these data packs intended for?

These data packs are designed to assist researchers, data analysts, product development professionals, business decision makers, and anyone involved in strategic planning at overseas health supplements companies, or entities and individuals interested in this area. By keeping up with each month’s shifts in sales and consumer behavior, such experts can get a more firm grip on the trends and shifting attitudes in China’s growing and increasingly competitive health supplements market.

For more information, download this month’s data pack today!

As well as our monthly data packs, we also put together a comprehensive guide to the health supplements industry in China, updated annually and available absolutely free right here.

Data upgrade notification:

Starting from the April 2023 monthly Datapack, TMO has optimized and adjusted the data collection methods used in the reports to provide readers with improved content. Readers will observe that the sales data in the data packs reflect a decrease compared to previous packs, albeit with the overall market landscape remaining unchanged. This is due to the enhanced accuracy of data collection, which improves the aggregation results in the following areas:

• Store Count: The store count is calculated based on actual sales-generating stores, excluding inactive or non-performing stores from the calculation.
• Product Count: The product count is determined by considering actual sales-generating products measured in terms of Standard Product Units (SPUs), excluding products that have not contributed to sales during the specified period.
• Sales Volume: The sales volume data has been refined by removing anomalous data points such as fake orders, while also excluding returns and refunds. This ensures that the monthly sales volume reflects a more accurate representation of the actual market situation.
• Sales Revenue: Due to adjustments in the calculation methodology for product count and sales volume, the monthly sales revenue data has noticeably decreased. TMO removes anomalous data points like fake orders and returns/refunds, resulting in more accurate sales revenue figures.

*Explanation of data deviations:

Although we utilize our own sophisticated and comprehensive algorithmic models for data analysis, it is important to note that there may still be some data deviations due to the nature of data collection and calculation dimensions. Here are a few factors that contribute to these deviations:

• Overall Collection Dimension: There may be instances where some stores are not yet included in the data collection process, resulting in partial store coverage.
• Accuracy of Sales Volume Dimension: Rapid delisting of certain products can result in missing relevant data, causing the sales volume to be slightly lower than the actual figures. Additionally, updates to public page data may introduce some delay, resulting in temporal discrepancies in the sales volume.
• Accuracy of Sales Revenue Dimension: Some information, such as store-specific member coupons or platform-wide discounts, may not be accessible through public pages. The calculation of prices for multiple SKUs related to promotional coupons can introduce variations, leading to deviations in the accuracy of sales revenue calculations.

Overall data accuracy ranges from 80% to 95%, with some brands or stores exhibiting larger variances. 

Readers are advised to approach the data with caution and use it as a reference rather than an absolute measure.