Hainan alcohol buyers favour established brands

More than half of alcohol purchases in Hainan duty free are pre-planned, with many consumers choosing brands for their reputation, according to new M1nd-set data.

New data from market research company M1nd-set looked at consumers’ duty free purchasing habits in Hainan, China, across the alcohol and beauty categories.

According to M1nd-set, only 8% of Chinese shoppers in Hainan buy alcohol impulsively. The majority (56%) of consumers who pre-planned their purchases did so with a general idea, with some brands in mind. However, more than a third (36%) intended to buy a specific brand or product they wanted.

M1nd-set highlighted that impulse buys were more frequent among Hainan residents with 17% purchasing on impulse, compared with 3% among tourists.

Most Chinese alcohol buyers (81%) said brand reputation was either very, or extremely important when purchasing.

Despite this, two-thirds of buyers said they were ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ open to discovering new alcohol brands in Hainan. M1nd-set noted only 2% of shoppers purchased alcohol brands they had never heard of.

In addition, 51% of Chinese alcohol shoppers claimed to make repeat purchases of products they had bought or consumed before. However, 55% said they would acquire new products or brands.

Four out of 10 alcohol shoppers in Hainan bought new products from brands they had already bought or consumed before, while 23% bought brands they were familiar with but they had never bought or consumed before.

More than half (54%) of shoppers pre-ordered at least part of their purchase online before travelling to the island.

Furthermore, the data showed alcohol purchases in Hainan are mainly made for self-consumption purposes (55%), while sharing, gifting and requested purchases are less common.

Price is the key advantage of buying alcohol in Hainan duty free, with 38% of shoppers citing lower prices as a buying incentive. This is compared with 36% who said product authenticity was the main benefit.

M1nd-set said better communication on how to make online purchases in Hainan’s duty free stores was an ‘important next step’ for brands and retailers to drive sales.

Furthermore, better promotion of the home delivery service provided by Hainan’s retailers, implemented in early 2021, could also boost sales. Across all categories, only 7% of shoppers used this service, M1nd-set said.

According to Pernod Ricard GTR, travellers are willing to spend more money in the channel, creating a “clear premiumisation trend” for spirits.