INITIATED in 2009, the annual shopping festival that coincides with the Singles’ Day serves as a barometer of China’s consumer confidence. This year’s shopping event has revealed new consumption trends emerging in the country.

“With big data, we can now more precisely predict which textures, colors or styles are going to become new fashions,” said Xiang Ruyi, founder of the Chinese clothing brand FANO.

To cater to the more diverse demand of China’s younger generation, a major driving force of Double Eleven consumption, clothing manufacturers are looking to digital technologies to better analyze the fashion market and consumer groups.

For these companies, the shopping festival begins much earlier than Nov. 11 every year. It is a complete industrial chain that covers research, production, sales and after-sales services, and technologies such as big data help connect those links.

“We can figure out where and to whom we should sell our products, even before they are actually manufactured,” Xiang said.

On the consumer side, online shopping is also getting more intelligent as livestreaming e-commerce thrives and reshapes consumer behaviors.

According to data from e-commerce platform Taobao, its top two livestreamers sold approximately 20 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion) of goods via their channels on the first presale day of this year’s Double Eleven.

Considering China’s huge livestreaming market, analysts envision that livestreaming e-commerce will continue to expand its presence in online shopping, and involve more sectors and types of goods.

The country had 617 million users of livestreaming services by May, and it is estimated that the livestreaming e-commerce market will near 2 trillion yuan in 2021, according to a report from a Ministry of Commerce research institute.

Since this year’s Double Eleven began, multiple online retail platforms have recorded surges in their sales of eco-friendly products amid China’s shift to green consumption.

The shift to green consumption is another prominent trend. During the 2021 shopping festival, online retailer Suning sold 69 percent more energy-efficient air conditioners compared to the same period last year. The number of consumers participating in a trade-in project increased by 74 percent.

In turn, green consumption is reshaping the way retailers are selling their goods. During the festival, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com began using a new type of parcel nationwide that is tape-free and can be reused dozens of times.

This shift will have a profound influence on global economic and social development, said Long Guoqiang, deputy head of the Development Research Center of the State Council.(Xinhua)