As the number of internet users in China is constantly on the rise, more consumers are looking to Social Media channels as their most trustworthy source of information for purchasing decisions.
In the face of this new trend and as part of its mission to support Italian wine producers wishing to expand their share in the Chinese wine market, Vinitaly International carried out a survey aimed at mapping out, for the very first time, the social media preferences of Chinese wine professionals.
Here’s a look at some of Vinitaly International’s findings:
- WeChat and QQ remain the most used instant messaging platforms with respectively 99.37% and 60,38% of wine professionals using them on a daily basis via mobile devices, tablets and computers
- 80% of wine professionals have personal Blog accounts and update them regularly with Sina Weibo and Sina Blog being the most used
- Surprisingly nearly half the interviewees don’t use any form of business networking social media, whilst the remaining 41% choose Linkdin as their preferred channel
- Despite the slow decline of online forums (BBS), their popularity among wine professionals is relatively high with Baidu Tieba ranking first place with 50% of users
- Meitu and Instagram are the most popular for picture sharing, while Aiqiyi and Youku Tudou are the main online video channels
- Live streaming is slowly starting to gain popularity among wine professionals, especially Ingkee
- Not surprisingly Taobao (70.44%), Tmall (50.94%) and JD (62.89%) are the most used e-commerce platforms where wine professionals turn to seek and share information
Tim Parry is Multichannel Merchant’s Managing Editor, and the lead programmer for Growing Global.