On April 9th， a press conference on the results of commodity sales statistics in the Chinese market was held in Beijing， co-sponsored by the China General Chamber of Commerce and China National Commercial Information Center. The conference introduced the operation situation and characteristics of China’s consumer goods market in 2018， and predicted the development trend of China’s consumer goods market in the future.
　　
Consumption has become the first driving force of economic growth， and the trend of market structure change is obvious
　　
In 2018， China’s consumption has become the first driving force of economic growth for the fifth consecutive year. From the perspective of the structural change of consumer goods market， there are still five basic trends： online shopping consumption is growing faster than physical stores， rural consumption is growing faster than urban consumption， catering income is growing faster than commodity retail， small and innovative businesses are developing actively， and sales growth of large retail enterprises is slowing down.
　　
The growth rate of consumer goods market remains within a reasonable range.
　　
In 2018， the scale of China’s consumer goods market expanded steadily. The total retail sales of social consumer goods reached 38.1 trillion yuan， an increase of 9% in nominal terms and 6.9% in real terms. After deducting automobiles， the total retail sales of social consumer goods increased by 10.3% year-on-year， and the growth rate dropped by only 0.4 percentage points compared with the previous year， indicating that most consumer goods are still growing faster. In addition， the total retail sales of social consumer goods mainly reflect the consumption of physical goods， and the highspeed growth of service consumption is not included. Therefore， on the whole， the growth rate of China’s consumer goods market remains within a reasonable range.
　　
The contribution rate of online physical retailing to the growth of consumer goods market is nearly half.
　　
In 2018， the national online retail sales of physical goods increased by 25.4% on the basis of last year’s high growth rate， faster than the total retail sales of social consumer goods by 16.4 percentage points， accounting for 18.4% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods， which increased by 3.4 percentage points over the previous year， contributing 45.2% to the total retail sales growth of social consumer goods， which increased by 9.8 percentage points over the previous year， and stimulating the total retail sales of social consumer goods by 4.1 percentage points， 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous year. 　　
Continuous increase in the proportion of rural consumer goods market.
　　
In 2018， the retail sales of rural consumer goods reached 5，535 billion yuan， an increase of 10.1% over the previous year. The growth rate was 1.3 percentage points higher than that of urban market. The proportion of rural market in the total retail sales of social consumer goods was 14.5%， which was 0.3 percentage points higher than that of the previous year. In terms of monthly growth， the rural consumer goods market grew by more than 10% year-on-year from January to April， June to September.
　　
Catering revenue is growing faster than merchandise retailing.
　　
In 2018， the retail sales of goods reached 33，827.1 billion yuan， an increase of 8.9% over the previous year. In 2018， the catering revenue reached 4，271.6 billion yuan， an increase of 9.5% over the previous year. The growth rate of catering revenue was faster than that of commodity retail by 0.6 percentage points. Among them， the catering income of units above the quota increased by 6.4%， 0.7 percentage points higher than the retail sales of units above the quota. From the monthly yearon-year growth， the growth rate of catering revenue is higher than that of commodity retail.
　　
Fashion and innovative small and micro enterprises are developing vigorously.
　　
In order to meet the diversified and multi-level needs of residents’ consumption， small retail stores， convenience stores and catering stores featuring innovative formats and modes to facilitate the consumption of community residents are developing actively， becoming the hot spot of active market and stimulating consumption.
　　
Low-speed growth of retail sales of large retail enterprises.
　　
According to the statistics of China National Com-mercial Information Center， the retail sales of 100 major retail enterprises （mainly department stores） increased by 0.7% in 2018， slowing down by 2.1 percentage points compared with 2017. Among them， the retail sales of clothing increased by 1%， cereal， oil and foodstuffs by 1.5%， cosmetics by 8.7%， daily necessities by 0.2%， gold， silver and jewelry by 1.6%， and household appliances by less than the same period last year.
　　
Achieving steady and rapid growth in major household goods.
　　
From the retail situation of units above designated size， in 2018， most categories have achieved positive growth. Among them， the retail sales of clothing， shoes， hats， knitted textiles， gold， silver and jewelry， daily necessities， petroleum and products increased by 8%， 7.4%， 13.7% and 13.3% year-on-year， respectively， and the growth rate was 0.2， 1.8， 5.7 and 4.1 percentage points faster than that of the previous year. Except for daily necessities and petroleum products， the retail sales of cereal， oil， foodstuffs and furniture goods grew by more than 10%. 　　
In 2018， the consumption of China’s consumer goods market has been upgraded rapidly， and consumption patterns， business forms， technology and experience innovation have accelerated to emerge. The connotation and extension of China’s consumer goods market are more abundant， and the business ecology is more perfect. Driven by brand innovation， some brands upgrade products to enhance consumers’ awareness of Chinese brands， satisfy people’s needs for a better life， and stimulate market consumption， which has become the backbone of stable growth of China’s consumer goods market in 2018.
　　
Significant characteristics of consumption upgrading Continuous increase in the proportion of service consumption
　　
Speeding up the growth of resident consumption expenditure.
　　
In 2018， although China’s economic growth and resident income growth slowed down， the growth of resident consumption expenditure accelerated against the trend. The per capita consumption expenditure of the whole country was 19，853 yuan， 8.4% higher than the nominal growth of the previous year， 1.3 percentage points faster than that of the previous year， and 6.2% higher than that of the previous year after deducting the price factor， 0.8 percentage points faster than that of the previous year. Among them， the per capita consumption expenditure of urban residents was 26，112 yuan， a nominal increase of 6.8%， 0.9 percentage points faster than the previous year， after deducting the price factor， the real increase was 4.6%， and the growth rate was 0.5 percentage points faster than the previous year. The per capita consumption expenditure of rural residents was 12，124 yuan， a nominal increase of 10.7%， 2.6 percentage points faster than that of the previous year， the real growth rate after deducting the price factor was 8.4%， and the growth rate was 1.6 percentage points faster than that of the previous year.
　　
Continuous increase in the proportion of service consumption expenditure.
　　
In 2018， China’s residents’ consumption concept has further changed from “possessing commodities” to “enjoying services”. The level of service supply of medical， catering， housekeeping and tourism has been continuously improved， which has led to the rapid growth of service consumption expenditure in China. The per capita service consumption expenditure of Chinese residents was 8，781 yuan， accounting for 44.2% of the total consumption expenditure， which is 1.6 percentage points higher than the previous year. Among them， the per capita expenditure on catering services increased by 21.7%， the expenditure on family services increased by 32.1%， the expenditure on medical services increased by 20.5%， and the expenditure on other services， including hotel accommodation， increased by 14.9%. 　　
Increasing consumer’s personalized brand awareness.
　　
In 2018， in the consumption of clothing， food， household appliances and other commodities， as well as tourism， education， culture and other services， we can find the characteristics of consumers’ transition from“brand awareness” to “personality brand awareness”. People’s enthusiasm for new products and popular goods in the market is still strong， but when it comes to choosing brand， buying behavior is more rational and personalized. The consumption structure of different regions is gradually convergent， but the consumption characteristics of brand circles are more obvious， and the market competition is more intense.
　　
Younger and fashionable brand upgrading.
　　
Traditional clothing brands have increased their investment in core business in recent years and returned to product positioning to meet consumer demand. First， they refine clothing design and expand from single style to multiple styles to meet consumers’ younger and diversified consumption needs. Second， they innovate and carry out crossover cooperation to upgrade the image of clothing brands with the help of the trend characteristics of well-known brands in other industries， achieving crossover win-win situation. Thirdly， we will introduce joint design products of designers to meet consumers’ high-quality and personalized consumption needs. Fourth， to promote the products in vogue which are favorite by the new generation of idol stars， internet celebrity， forming fans’ economy. Fifth， to increase investment in fashion shows， major events and social media to maintain market enthusiasm.
　　
The effect of store upgrading is remarkable.
　　
In 2018， the adjustment of clothing brand stores is more vigorous. New channel layout and streamlined stock stores are carried out at the same time. Through a series of measures， such as upgrading the image of stores， adjusting display layout， improving visual effects， introducing intelligent equipment and improving service quality， consumers can have a more comfortable shopping environment and a richer shopping experience. Brands matching store upgrade and product upgrade have achieved remarkable results this year， and their performance has improved rapidly. For example， by participating in New York Fashion Week， enhancing the store’s sense of technology， scene and other measures， Bosideng upgraded its brand in an all-round way， and realized that the annual retail sales of down clothing exceeded 10 billion yuan. 　　
The sense of science and technology will be quickly integrated into fashion consumption.
　　
People’s desire for new technology will accelerate the promotion of science and technology content in all walks of life. Fashion elements of clothing consumption will not only be beautiful and fashionable， but also a sense of science and technology will become a fashion consumption. Clothing brand will accelerate the integration of technology and fashion from product design， product material and store environment. First， to restructure the industrial chain， break the information barriers between production and consumption， upstream industry and downstream industry， and realize the effective connection between garment design and consumption demand， second， to promote product innovation， wearable equipment and innovative fabrics will give more functions to garments， third， to increase the sense of technology in stores， black technology such as 3D fitting mirror， interactive electronic screen and environmental experience warehouse will be more applied to stores to enhance the brand image in the hearts of consumers.
　　
Garment grade will come from quality and specialty more.
　　
Clothing is not only a commodity pursuing fashion， but also a work reflecting ingenuity. Despite the endless trend and rich marketing， behind the hotspot of the market is the persistence of the clothing brand to the main industry and the recognition of the quality of consumers. With the maturity and rationality of Chinese consumers， people will pay more attention to the intrinsic quality， function and technology of clothing. The quality of clothing consumption will be more reflected in the history of the brand， the precise positioning of the function， the professional level of design， the fine degree of technology， the texture comfort of fabrics， and the service quality of shopping guide.
　　
Consumers will pay more attention to the social image of brands.
　　
The new generation of consumers not only pay attention to the commodity itself， but also to the social impact of their consumption behavior， thus attaching importance to the social image of the brand. Clothing brands will adhere to honest management， strengthen the sense of social responsibility， actively implement the green and environmental design concept， actively participate in public welfare activities， abide by the spirit of the contract. Through the support of sustainable development， the inheritance of traditional Chinese culture and the attention to vulnerable groups， we can spread positive energy for the society.