Every night, after dinner hour, some Haidilao restaurants switch from their usual warm white lighting to cool, atmospheric lighting, with a DJ set on stage. Male “hosts”, gym-bodied models or K-pop-style idols, dressed in tank tops, open shirts or maid dresses, dance provocatively for the diners, who are mostly women. People at the front of the audience can even touch the performers’ abs if they wish. This type of event usually starts around 9:40 PM and requires pre-booking. Haidilao first introduced “nightclub mode” in Guangzhou in January before launching it across China.

In late June, it was reported that a customer suffered sudden hearing loss at a Haidilao restaurant in “nightclub” mode. The restaurant took the customer to the hospital but insisted that the sound system’s 100db volume was within a safe hearing range, and that each night, DJs ask customers to move to quieter parts of the restaurant if they dislike the loud music.

Haidilao has been diversifying its investments with bakeries and higher-end dining experiences. However, turning its main hot pot joints into nightclubs at night is a different approach, because the other ventures are under separate brands that are distinct from Haidilao. The “late-night supper”, or “nightclub mode”, however, happens after dinner hours in regular Haidilao restaurants. This is why some pundits fear that the hosts and models might dilute the brand. The sold-out shows are an indicator of how female buying power continues to be at work. In fact, some commentators have pointed out that nightclubs and karaoke are also waning, as people are less inclined to spend on nightlife. The novelty of Haidilao, in fact, also helps DJ and dancers bring back this culture, just at hot pot restaurants.

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First, short-form dramas. According to the 2024 China Short-Form Drama Industry Report, the market has grown to 50.5 billion RMB (about 6.95 billion USD), surpassing the country’s annual box office.
Second, Xiaomi launched its first SUV, the YU7, priced at 253,500 RMB (about 34,900 USD). Within just three minutes, over two hundred thousand units were preordered.
Third, Labubu toys have gone viral, with resale prices topping 10,000 RMB (about 1,380 USD) and still climbing.

The center of all three is female consumers. The so-called “sheconomy” isn’t just a buzzword, but becoming a dominant force reshaping how and what China buys.

Win Her, Win the Market

Brands that tap into women’s emotional needs and buying behavior are reaping the rewards. Pop Mart reports that 75% of its customer base is female. Its blind boxes—built around themes like “cute,” “surprise,” and “collectibility”—have triggered waves of repeat purchases.

Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun summed it up best: “Men might do the research, but it’s usually the woman who decides. If she’s not on board, the car doesn’t get bought.” The surge in short-form dramas on platforms like Douyin is also powered by female viewers. Genres like “revenge romance” and “sweet romance” dominate the charts, offering emotional release and comfort.

These trends signal a deeper shift together: women are now the most influential consumer group in China’s evolving economy.

Sheconomy = Power

This isn’t just about women buying more—it’s about women shaping what gets bought and how brands operate.

According to 58.com’s 2024 Women & Homeownership Survey, the share of women leading homebuying decisions jumped from 65.2% in 2018 to 85.7% in 2024. They focus on layout, safety, comfort, and a sense of home—not just ROI. Kantar Worldpanel also found that women aged 18–45 drive 71% of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) spending, 68% of beauty purchases, and 63% of education-related consumption.

Women are no longer passive shoppers—they’re calling the shots. Brands that want to win need to understand how women live, what they care about, and how they make decisions.

Sell the Feeling, Not Just the Function

Features aren’t enough anymore. Women want more than utility. They’ll happily spend on “cute” (Labubu), ritual (flowers, home fragrances), or emotional comfort (short-form dramas).

So the bestsellers all share a woman-first aesthetic and emotional resonance. Xiaomi’s SUV launch, for example, highlighted a “comfortable ride for women” and a “rear-seat vanity mirror.”

Winning today means shifting from selling features to sparking feelings—from offering products to inspiring dreams. In a world of lookalike functions, how something makes her feel is what makes it worth buying.

She’s Setting the Rules

Women have grown into the key decision-makers and aesthetic leaders of the entire consumer ecosystem. That’s why more brands and media are moving away from the “male gaze” and embracing themes like self-worth and living on one’s own terms.

The real question now is: if women hold the buying power, are brands still stuck using old rules? Sheconomy is the foundation of the next consumer era. In a crowded, hyper-competitive market, whoever earns her attention—and keeps it—wins.

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The curious and borderline risqué trend took Rednote by storm when a postgraduate entrance exam candidate posted on the platform that she had too much stress and was willing to pay 50 RMB (6.95 USD) for a 5-minute hug with a “man mum”. Not only did the post go viral, but copycats asking for hugs and gym bros taking the opportunity to show off their bodies with the hashtag quickly gained traction. The trend is now called “拼好抱” (share a hug, “拼好”-something is a term often used in carpool and group buys).

Many attribute the trend to the “loneliness epidemic” in China, where people yearn for affection and intimacy but are afraid of relationships and commitment. Others refer to the “男色消费” (female gaze consumption), where women pay for content of good-looking men dancing, hiring male dates for dinner or even just photo-ops, or the most recent “paid hugs”.

However, there is a strong likelihood that much of the related hug with “man mums” content is riding the viral wave on Chinese social media for traffic, and it must be said that in such transactions, women are in a more vulnerable position than the gym bros. The virality suggests that the “transactional” nature of modern affection does have a place in China.

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The hygiene products were sold in packages containing pads of varying sizes for day and night use, as well as period pants, with a set of 62 pieces priced at 49.8 RMB (6.91 USD) and 124 pieces at 99.8 RMB (13.84 USD). Huang launched Domyway’s first sales event and all 500,000 sets were sold out in 30 minutes, earning 40 million RMB (5.55 million USD). Domyway shot to the top of the personal care ranking while setting a record on Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese sister app. Even scalpers moved in to resell them for up to 150 RMB (20.81 USD) per pack.

• #黄子韬卫生巾售价 Huang Zitao sanitary pads pricing: 170 million views on Weibo, ranking number 1 on the Hot Search list
• #黄子韬手拿卫生巾大谈月经谁破防了Who’s triggered by Huang talking about period while holding sanitary pads: 77.51 million views on Weibo, ranking number 5 on the Hot Search list

Some call it chivalry and some praise it for normalising men talking about periods, while others question the “male saviour” narrative surrounding Huang and his two male partners, who are seen to be stepping in to “save women” from substandard hygiene products. However, with online transparency about the manufacturing combined with reasonable pricing, if the quality is as good as they advertise, it can’t be bad for the consumer.

That is why some pundits are conscious about whether this might be an experiment for MCN (multi-channel network) agencies launching a brand. Despite the unique nature of feminine hygiene products, Huang’s venture can provide valuable insights on how to run a brand as a celebrity or influencer.

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Its first episode, called “待她出手” (When She Takes Action, lit. when she holds out her hand), features author and director Chen Danyan (陈丹燕), screenwriter Qin Wen (秦雯) and documentary director and writer Zhou Yijun (周轶君), discussing literature, craft, film and television through a woman’s hand.

This is not the first time Loewe has explored the podcast medium. During the Shanghai leg of the “Crafted World” major exhibition, the brand collaborated with the podcast channel Slow Brand. It also collaborated with podcaster “咸柠七” (lit. salted lemon Seven Up, a classic Hong Kong café drink) during the opening of the Casa Loewe at the Jing An Kerry Centre earlier this year, discussing the history of bicycles in Shanghai, coinciding with the Hellobike collaboration at the time.

Currently, pundits are patiently awaiting the debut collection from Loewe’s new creative director duo, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, who took the helm following the end of a successful 11-year run by Jonathan Anderson. Like Gucci, which is also between creative directors, recently reiterating its heritage through an exhibition, Loewe’s latest move, including the podcast, is to further raise awareness of its core brand values, before the new designs reshape the image of the luxury brand. However, some commentators also find that luxury podcasts in China have become homogenous, almost invariably focusing on topics like culture, art and women. It might be worth watching if Loewe can step out of its comfort zone for the next episode.

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Reigning cats and dogs

The pet economy has been one of the hottest topics in the consumer market. In 2024, it was reported that China had more pets than toddlers and babies below the age of 4 for the first time. By 2030, pets will be twice the number of small children. Families with pets are now over 100 million.

In what’s called the era of “pet-keeping 3.0”, pets are becoming “family”, taking on the role of children. For reference, the 1.0 era was of the functional guard dogs or mouser cats, while 2.0 saw better nutrition, health, and quality of life for pets. We have been hearing about pet-friendly shopping and dining for a few years now, and since the Chinese New Year (CNY), travelling with pets is becoming easier than ever. From having your pet in the cabin with a seat on planes to the high-speed train in China trialling pet transportation, all the way to pet-friendly hotels, travelling with pets is becoming increasingly accessible.

Pets not only provide “emotional value” for their humans, but are equally being provided with “emotional value”. Elderly pet care, pet funeral services and pet “schools” that offer daycare and training are all becoming popular. On top of high-end food, healthcare and apparel for pets, the “childcare-like pet-keeping” (育儿式养宠) has birthed over 4.2 million startups as of this January in the pet economy sector. This is partly because the younger generations are more willing to spend money on their pets than on themselves.

From JellyCat to LABUBU

For those who are still willing to spend money on themselves, there is a term called “self-pleasing” (悦己) or “self-care” (宠己), which became Alipay, Alibaba’s payment platform’s word of the year in 2024. Younger consumer cohorts who shop for themselves are usually single, and they buy for their own pleasure instead of for other people, including family. “Emotional value” is also a key term for them.

For many of the “self-pleasing” crowd, collectible “goods” (谷子, meaning merchandise), especially those from POP MART and Jellycat, are especially popular. POP MART, which recently became the number 1 shopping app on the Apple App Store in the United States, has also been seeing long queues outside its stores stateside as well, despite a price hike for its star product, the LABUBU figurines, after its third-generation update. The LABUBU boom has also reached the UK and Thailand, as well as the second-hand market in China.

Meanwhile, the British plush toymaker Jellycat, also popular, is facing a very different situation in China. Its playful and immersive shopping experience with role-play of CAFÉ in Shanghai has caused many an imitator to arise. From museums to brand campaigns, the term “xxx has its own Jellycat” has become a viral phrase.

And everything in between

But lately, another class of plushies is taking the place of both pets and the collectible toy for many young Chinese: “cotton dolls” (棉花娃娃). These plushies are usually “chibi” cutesy styled characters from popular ACGN (anime, comics, games or light novels), as well as live-action film, TV and even celebrities. Collectors usually call these dolls/plushies “babies” (娃), themselves “moms” (娃妈) and their collecting activity as “rearing babies” (养娃). This is a great subversion of the popular terms “娃” and “养娃” often used by parents of small children on social media.

Like the general Chinese “goods” market, the “babies” plushies sector is also a mix of official releases from the IP holders and group buys based on fan art. Like pet owners and toy collectors, and real parents for that matter, these “moms” also fill their social media with their “babies” from everyday life to travel photos. For many, the main cost in the process of “rearing” their babies is the outfits for the dolls to appear in on social media, which is where much of the business is.

Although it might be a hard time for those working in the children-centric sectors, the childless generations are also creating more markets as they grow. From pet owners to toy collectors and doll-mothers, the “emotional value” is always key. With the advent of AI-enabled robots, toys and plushies, the trend might continue growing stronger among Chinese consumers.

Need to boost your China strategy? Dao Pro delivers bespoke insights on marketing, innovation, and digital trends, direct from Chinese sources. Find out more from our Dao Strategy Team here.

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Nike opened sign-ups for the Shanghai event between 28 and 31 March. For 50 RMB (6.88 USD), any one of the over 3,500 women runners who won the ballot received a Nike product trial, professional online and offline coaching for 6 weeks, preparation service, after-run recovery and celebration, etc., as well as a custom pack from Nike with a T-shirt and supplies, and a voucher for a free Nike Sports Bra. Anyone who finished the race also got a Nike necklace with its iconic swoosh logo, called Speed Lace.

The event itself was a 10km run and took place at 9 PM on 27 April. The starting point was Century Square, and the finishing line was at Miaojiang Road. With an all-women pacer team and feminine hygiene products in the portable toilet cubicles, the event pays special attention to female runners’ needs. All proceeds from the signup fees will be donated to Nike’s Boundless Girls programme, which empowers girls through sports and PE.

The Nike After Dark Tour is no doubt a very meaningful moment for women runners, whether they were lucky enough to get in the Shanghai run or not. But more importantly, it shows how a more considerate sporting event can be managed, in this case, for women. It was also a perfectly framed opportunity for Nike to showcase their products to female consumers, from the sport bra to running shoes like the Vomero 18, which featured heavily in the event. With events like this and the fashion show at Shanghai Fashion Week, Nike has been delivering resonant, sports-focused messages in China.

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On 9 April, Huang Zitao announced that he would be releasing 50,000 test sanitary pads for 0.01 RMB (0.0014 USD) on 11 April. He also introduced details about his product, from quality control to the production process. He is putting his reputation on the line to make a safe and high-quality product. He also mentioned on the stream that his wife, singer Xu Yiyang, has also tried 3 or 4 products from his line and is happy with the result.

• #黄子韬卫生巾1分钱试用5万单 Tao 50,000 0.01 RMB sanitary pads: 160 million views on Weibo, ranking number 5 on the Hot Search list
• #黄子韬做卫生巾 Tao makes sanitary pads: 2.6 million views on Rednote with 14,200 notes

However, some netizens aren’t entirely convinced as they found out that Tao is still outsourcing the sanitary pad production to OEM factories and not manufacturing them himself. Others find that his brand, similar to people asking Lei Jun, is a display of the “male-saviour” complex. It does not help with concerns around how male-dominant the feminine hygiene sector is, and is partially the cause of the recent scandals.

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The centre of the scandal is one company in Jining, Shandong, Eastern China, which was found to be producing counterfeit sanitary products, including sanitary pads and diapers. The company takes defective materials and scraps from legitimate manufacturers to “recycle” and “refurbish” into new products before using fake packaging to appear as branded products.

• #翻新卫生巾 Recycled sanitary pads: 570 million views on Weibo, ranking number 1 on the Hot Search list
• #近五年爆过雷的卫生巾品牌 Brands that had scandals in the last 5 years: 86.17 million views on Weibo, ranking number 2 on the Hot Search list

Women in China have long faced nightmares about hygiene products from official news and word-of-mouth rumours. This is why the hashtag “Which brand hasn’t had a scandal” yet also reached number 10 on the list. People also jokingly asked Lei Jun of Xiaomi to make pads that are safe. Both show that trust is the most important and it is currently lacking between consumers and brands in this market.

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C-beauty brand Proya experienced backlash last year due to its campaign about gender roles and stereotypes, including several men and their stories. This year, we also saw SK-II’s “dare to bare” makeup-less campaign fall flat as Chinese netizens doubted the sincerity of the message from the premium skincare company about showing off healthy skin without makeup.

This year, we are seeing a trend of more intellectual and artistic International Women’s Day marketing from major brands including Aesop, To Summer and Valentino who all chose an artistic and cultural approach with an intellectual flavour to connect with its urban cultured target audiences.

A tearoom of one’s own

For IWD this year, Australian luxury cosmetics brand Aesop aimed to create a spiritual space, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own for women, but a more public space like a tea house. Between 1 and 9 March, Aesop will be hosting a series of four events at its stores across China called “Her Story”, “Her Expression”, “Her Voice”, and “Her Blossoming”. Anyone can reserve a place on the brand’s official accounts to attend these activities.

In the true spirit of solidarity, for “Her Story”, each participant can exchange a book at the store that is written by a woman or a supporter of women’s rights. For “Her Expression” Aesop will be hosting an exhibition in store for 3 women artists. “Her Voice” will involve listening to vinyl records of female blues singers. Participants of “Her Blossoming” will receive a lily bulb to grow at home.

Through the events, not only does Aesop try to unite women with the arts but the brand also tries to transcend the forms or vessels of the arts to their core. The storytelling of lived experiences as a woman in the age of information. Of course, these activities are targeted at a more intellectual class of women because of the forms they have taken.

The world is her playground

On the other hand, Chinese fragrance brand To Summer released another issue of its “Nosepaper” publication, which started as part of its “Open and Close” (自由与想象 in Chinese, lit. Freedom and Imagination) initiative last March. To Summer’s concept last year, incidentally, is also inspired by Woolf’s essay. The latest issue is titled “Your World is a Playground” (和世界玩儿, lit. playing with the world).

Like Aesop, To Summer also approached International Women’s Day marketing with a four-pronged campaign: fragrance, art, poetry and round table. The Open and Close fragrance collection welcomes two new additions, Pearl Box and Her. The Nosepaper, a collaboration between the brand and Parallel Poetry Festival published a new Spring 2025 issue hosting 11 female writers and their contribution to a collection of poetry with “Your World is a Playground” as its theme. Between 7 and 9 March, 10,000 copies are available for pickup at the Guozijian branch in Beijing or the To Summer flagship store in Shanghai. Two offline round table discussions with special guests were hosted on 6 March at the “To Summer Living Room” concept store in Sanlitun, Beijing.

The medium is the message

Italian luxury fashion house Valentino also approached IWD in a similar manner. It is noteworthy, despite Valentino not being a direct competitor to Aesop and To Summer. The Italian brand took a hyper-localised approach in Shanghai and launched a “citywalk” style route along Suzhou Creek. The campaign is three-pronged with photography, music and literature, with an immersive photography exhibition at the Fotografiska gallery, a music party at the Women’s Live House and a book club event at the Naïve bookshop.

It should be noted that these brands are adopting more intellectual or artistic forms which not only reinforce their brand image but also appeal to the audience with other campaigns. This applies to To Summer who started the Nosepaper with its Woolfian concept store, but also to Aesop who launched a cinephilic pop-up space in Shenzhen last November to celebrate its then-new collection.

The “arty and cultured” youth (文艺青年) and “xiaozi” (小资, lit. petit bourgeois) cohorts are still one of the key target audiences for these premium brands. With art exhibitions and niche film screenings continuing to be a popular pastime for the urban young, this “highbrow” marketing approach might have already been democratised in China. For elevated brands like the three above, it is a great way of maintaining the luxury brand narrative while connecting with urban consumers.

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