Chinese eCommerce Market: Top Product Categories by Revenue

Top Categories in China’s eCommerce Market: Key Insights

• Apparel ranks highest: With US$374 billion in revenue, apparel was the top performing online category in China in 2023.

• Middle-ranking categories: Ranking second to fourth are electrical appliances, consumer electronics, and footwear, with revenues between US$253-291 billion. Personal care ranks fifth with much smaller revenues of US$159 billion.

• Market outlook: Although all top 5 product categories are projected to grow until 2028, some are expected to grow much faster (apparel) than others (personal care).

China is the world’s leading eCommerce market, where customers have not only readily adopted eCommerce but often also set new trends.

Our ECDB data reveals that two main categories – Fashion and Electronics – are at the top of China’s eCommerce market, in terms of the revenues that they generated in 2023. The data is more granular, showing performance by subcategory as well as their yearly growth rate.

In this article, we examine the top five best-selling categories in China’s eCommerce market.

Online Categories in China: Apparel Leads, Followed by Electrical Appliances

The categories that recorded the highest revenues in 2023 were:

1. Apparel leads with revenues worth US$373.7 billion.

2. Electrical Appliances is second with US$291 billion.

3. Consumer Electronics follows closely, with US$288.4 billion.

4. Footwear is fourth with US$252.6 billion.

5. Personal Care is fifth with US$158.7 billion.

How have these product categories performed in recent years? What does data predict about their growth in the future?

1. Apparel (US$374 billion)

At US$374 billion, a figure larger than South Africa’s GDP in 2024, Apparel not only generated the highest revenues out of all product categories in 2023, but it also constituted half of all sales in its main category of Fashion.

• Revenue: From just US$134 billion in 2018, Apparel has come a long way. Revenues reached approximately US$200 billion in 2020 and crossed US$300 billion by 2022. The market is expected to hit US$437 billion this year, with a yearly increase of 17%.

• Growth: Apparel is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 13.9% to reach US$736 billion by 2028. It has the highest CAGR in this top five list.

2. Electrical Appliances (US$291 billion)

Electrical Appliances, a part of Electronics, generated just over half of the total revenues for its main category in China. Over 87% of its revenue came from household appliances in 2023, while the remaining came from personal care appliances.

• Revenue: The online market for electrical appliances was slightly bigger than apparel in 2018, at US$137 billion. Revenues reached US$182 billion by 2020 and are predicted to increase to US$323 billion this year, with a yearly growth of 11%.

• Growth: At a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 8.7%, electrical appliances are predicted to reach a market size of US$451 billion by 2028.

3. Consumer Electronics (US$288 billion)

Consumer Electronics is the second subcategory within Electronics, for which it created around 49% of its total revenues in 2023.

• Revenue: In 2018, this category’s revenues stood at US$150 billion – higher than its counterpart Electrical Appliances. But its growth faltered, comparatively. Revenues reached US$262 billion in 2022. This year, the market is estimated at US$314 billion, with a yearly increase of 9%.

• Growth: Consumer Electronics is expected to grow at a CAGR (2024-2028) of 6.3% and hit US$402 billion by 2028.

4. Footwear (US$253 billion)

The second-largest subcategory within Fashion, Footwear accounted for 33.7% of its sales in 2023. Although its revenues are projected to increase, yearly growth is slated to dip in the coming years.

• Revenue: Footwear’s online market in China increased from US$135 billion in 2018 to US$233 billion by 2022. This year, revenues will likely cross US$272 billion, with a year-on-year growth of 8%.

• Growth: Footwear is expected to grow at a CAGR (2024-2028) of 4.8%, with revenues likely to reach US$328 billion by 2028.

5. Personal Care (US$159 billion)

Personal Care generated the highest share of the revenues – 65% – for its main category of Care Product in China in 2023.

• Revenue: From a much smaller market of US$88 billion in 2018, Personal Care grew to US$130 billion by 2021. Revenues are expected to climb to US$169 billion this year, at a yearly growth of 6.6%.

• Growth: At a CAGR (2024-2028) of 2.5% – the lowest in this top five list – projected revenues for Personal Care are US$187 billion by 2028.

Top Categories in Chinese eCommerce: Closing Remarks

While their CAGR (2024-2028) varies, all categories in the top five – apparel, electrical appliances, consumer electronics, footwear and personal care – are predicted to have increasing revenues going forward. The developments hint at the robustness of China’s eCommerce market, which remains profitable for most product categories.

Sources: World Population Review