Hand-in-hand with the shift to in-home sashimi, is the continued growth of online shopping.
Marketing, last-mile delivery and growing comfort levels
From app to tableOnline shopping penetration is over 80% and more than a quarter of the country’s consumer goods were already being sold online by 2024, well above global averages, according to Statistica.
It notes how, in recent years, new features such as live streaming and rapid delivery have been integrated into China’s e-commerce landscape, further enhancing the customer experience.
These trends are built on trust, fostered long before food made its way from app to table.
Today, Chinese consumers enjoy high levels of confidence in a high-functioning distribution network, including last mile delivery, that has made it easy to move from non food to dry goods to fresh and now raw fish.
This ease of availability and quality is not restricted to tier-one cities either – this is as easy in a tier-three city as it would be in Shanghai, says Sigmund, adding that a parallel growth in kitchens and factories approved for sashimi grade salmon is helping to match pace.
"When I buy salmon to be delivered to my apartment, I go into the Chinese apps, find the store, find the salmon I want, place an order. Twenty five minutes later, it arrives at my door in mint condition. It is packed so well that it is fresher than if I bought it myself at the supermarket."
Sigmund Bjørgo,
NSC Country Director China
So, what are Chinese consumers looking for when they shop for salmon? If you ask this question in English, the response will almost certainly be ‘freshness’.
But a lot of different traits are rolled into the idea of freshness: trust, appearance, habit, country of origin and more. So how can they be assured it is fresh?
Trust or distrust in different channels is important. And there is the idea that some countries of origin are better than others. The right product includes these different features, combined with price.
While they might not state it as a product trait, Chinese consumers are price sensitive: and that means the right price. They don’t want to pay over-the-odds but too cheap and they might be sacrificing quality. Online, it’s easy to compare one price to another.
The effort that consumers put into weighing all this up helps develop brand loyalty. If reviews are good and the customer is happy with what they got, they’re likely to go back. Why go through that whole process again if the product is good?