Douyin Insights & Data on China’s Luxury Industry | Dec 2023
Welcome to the fourth edition of “Luxury Industry Bi-Month Trends Focus”, a bi-monthly publication highlighting the latest luxury industry trends on Douyin, a popular video-sharing platform with over 600 million daily active users.
This publication is designed to serve as a key resource for industry professionals, presenting up-to-date platform data and expert analysis distilling recent trends and case studies.
In our fourth edition, we reflect on the key moments of 2023, encompassing major fashion shows, festivals, trending content, and new ad products, while presenting the latest user data from the last two months of the year.
Fashion shows
In 2023, Douyin hosted a variety of live luxury fashion shows and exhibitions including the LOUIS VUITTON Pre-Fall Men’s 2024 Show, BALENCIAGA Autumn 24 Series Show, and CELINE Summer Men’s 2024 Collection.
These live shows not only offer exposure to participating luxury brands but also help them accumulate more account followers using Douyin’s follower acquisition add-on.
LOUIS VUITTON’s livestream show and the announcement of its creative director joining Douyin dominated trending topics.
New ads products
Debuting as a groundbreaking initiative in the luxury sector, “More Than One Screen” was introduced in late 2023.
The Luxury Winter Festival, commencing at the end of November, saw three prominent jewelry brands pioneering the “More Than One Screen” concept. Utilizing glasses-free 3D visuals and innovative advertising, they artfully narrate brand stories across three screens.
New content
PRADA, in another collaboration with DOU Content Lab, crafted a blockbuster video spotlighting Chinese women’s football, securing a spot in the Top 4 on the Douyin Hot List and amassing a staggering 240 million exposures across the web.
Kick off
MaxMara’s official flagship store joined Douyin and quickly adopted KOL livestreams while coordinating brand livestreams across all Douyin touchpoints.
Holiday marketing
Holiday periods at the end of the year, including Christmas and New Year, are a major opportunity for brands to take advantage of peaks in traffic by launching their own ad campaigns, co-creating content (i.e. celebrities or creators from the Xingtu creator marketplace), and announcing new product releases.
By producing holiday-themed content, luxury brands like Gucci, PRADA, and FENDI were all able to leverage the festive spirit to reach their target audience and build their respective follower bases.
Earlier in the year, Bazaar and GQ, two prominent fashion media outlets, strategically utilized Qixi (Chinese Valentine’s Day) to steer the fashion narrative on Douyin through content and product shopping channels.
Shopping festivals
Douyin E-commerce’s Double 11 Luxury Goods promotion strategy achieved a remarkable surge in business through content marketing, witnessing a +123% YoY growth in the luxury category.
The apparel category took the spotlight, boasting a substantial +235% growth in business and an almost 20% rise in average spending per customer.
Versace, Karl Lagerfeld, Moose Knuckles, and Hugo Boss seized the opportunity during Double 11 to unveil content showcasing new brand ambassadors, endorsements, and livestream events.
Luxury watch brand Tissot took advantage of Double 11 to promote celebrity endorsements and limited-time promotions available in official Douyin livestream rooms.
Douyin in collaboration with Douyin E-commerce celebrated 7 exclusive product launches for Fall/Winter, including VERSACE’s sneakers, BOSS’ Brand Code collection, Moose Knuckles’ shearling jacket, Marc Jacobs’ Teddy J Marc debut, MAX&CO’s De-Coated collection, and Wedgwood’s exquisite dinnerwear.
Canadian brand, Moose Knuckles, likewise used Douyin and a mix of branded short videos, Brand Takeover ads, and brand livestreams to boost the promotion of its newly released products.
Industry data overview
Douyin’s luxury content ecosystem is flourishing with rapid growth in short videos, livestreams, and searches. There is also a diverse range of hot hashtags and trending search terms, which we’ll review in this section.
First, let’s take an overall look at the performance of China’s luxury industry on Douyin for 2023.
Short videos
With an astounding 13 billion average monthly views and 19% year-on-year growth, luxury consumers are hooked on short videos!
Livestreaming
Transforming passive viewing into an interactive experience, livestream views exceeded 22 billion average monthly views, reflecting a substantial 36% YoY increase.
Searches
As a key barometer for desire, search activity experienced 56% YoY growth in 2023 with 150 million average monthly searches. Popular search keywords during the November and December period included Valentino, Liu Yifei, Sean Xiao, Miu Miu, Moncler down jackets, and Ralph Lauren.
Hashtags
Hashtags serve as a vital connector, aligning content with an engaged audience. Top hashtags in 2023 included #LuxuryGoods, #MilanFashionWeek, #OOTDIdeas, #ParisFashionWeek, #Bags, #Fashion, #Watches, and #Rolex.
Trending brands
Users’ search habits continued to strengthen, with a pronounced focus on brand-related content from luxury brands, fueling an increase in e-commerce search intent and transactions.
LOUIS VUITTON topped the Douyin charts in 2023 for both overall trending luxury brand and e-commerce search intent, followed by BVLGARI, Balenciaga, and DIOR.
E-commerce trends
Boosted by festivals and major promotions, the GMV for the luxury industry on Douyin E-commerce soared in 2023, with a growth rate exceeding 250%. Product sales also grew more than 4-fold compared to the previous year.
Brand livestreams were the main channel for transactions, accounting for 52% of sales in 2023 compared to 49% the previous year.
Audience trends
In 2023, the number of buyers of luxury goods using Douyin E-commerce increased by 208% compared to the previous year.
Predominantly aged 31-40 and residing in high-tier cities, buyers are typically located in affluent demographic groups such as the seasoned middle class, emerging white-collar professionals, and sophisticated mothers.
Interpreting category trends
Told through the hashtags, search keywords, and short videos that index the zeitgeist of modern luxury, this next section delves into the latest trends across luxury product categories.
In 2023, all luxury product categories on Douyin E-commerce experienced stable growth. Clothing emerged as a standout category with abundant supply and remarkable YoY growth exceeding 300%, while other categories still need an expansion of product offerings to align with consumer demands.
The content landscape reflected the sales market, showcasing clothing as the leading growth category, whereas the footwear segment still requires an augmented supply of content and distribution.
Luxury handbags & suitcases
Designer clothing
Designer accessories
Designer shoes
Spotlight on brand ads
Looking for ad inspiration? Explore a curated selection of ad creatives from leading brands including BVLGARI, Omega, Cartier, and PRADA.
Trending KOL content
From lifestyle vlogs to new product reviews, luxury brand and influencer collaborations remain a popular source of content.
Utilizing KOL management services from Xingtu, iconic brands including LOUIS VUITTON, GUCCI, and Tommy Hilfiger recently partnered with Chinese KOLs to create and distribute branded content.
Stay tuned for the next bi-monthly report
Looking for more fresh insights? We have you covered.
Drawing on inside knowledge and the latest data from Ocean Insights, Ocean Engine, and Douyin E-commerce, each bi-monthly report is designed to inspire and inform business strategies, assisting brands to stay a step ahead. To view the next bimonthly report, please bookmark and visit this page again soon.
Download the whitepaper
Dive deeper into the world of luxury marketing by downloading the “Douyin Luxury Gravitational Center” whitepaper. This comprehensive report offers invaluable insights into the latest trends and consumer behaviors to help you stay at the forefront of China’s luxury industry.
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Notice
This report was jointly produced by Ocean Insights, Ocean Engine Consumer Goods Business Center Luxury Goods Industry, and Douyin E-commerce Luxury Goods Industry.
The text, data, and other content contained in this report are protected by the intellectual property laws and regulations of the People’s Republic of China. Except for third-party data and other public information cited in this report, this report belongs exclusively to Ocean Engine.
Writers of this report do not take any responsibility or liability for the third-party data and other public information cited in this report. This content, in all circumstances, is for reference only and shall not be altered or modified without permission.
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Ocean Insights
Leveraging content consumption platforms such as Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua Video, as well as Ocean Engine’s advanced data and technology, Ocean Insights provides leading, strictly objective, and careful insights into marketing trends. Ocean Insights publishes content trends, industry research, and advertising strategies, along with indexes, rankings, and data analysis tools to meet the needs of enterprises, marketing personnel, and creators.
About the data
The data in this report is from an internal data platform. Please note that it has not been validated.
Douyin luxury goods content: Videos on Douyin that contain luxury goods-related keywords in their titles as well as videos featuring luxury goods.
Time frame: November-December 2023 (unless otherwise specified)
