The survey covered the period between 1 May last year and 1 May this year. The top 10 cities are Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wenzhou and Ningbo. Shanghai online shoppers spent Rmb17.42 billion during the period as compared to Rmb5.62 billion in Hangzhou.

Although Hangzhou only ranks fourth in overall purchasing power, Zhejiang retailers are making most money in the wedding goods category and leading all other provinces in transaction volume with a 24.69% share of the national total. Most Zhejiang wedding goods retailers operate from Jinhua, Taizhou, Hangzhou and Wenzhou. Best-selling wedding goods include invitation cards, red packets, guest books, wedding candy boxes and decorations.

Online retailers in Zhejiang are doing great business in wedding goods partly because Zhejiang’s Yiwu small commodities market provides a reliable source for small and medium-sized retailers and partly because newly weds in Zhejiang are willing to splurge on weddings and are very particular about things like invitations, gifts, guest books and decorations. It is only natural that they should want to buy from local retailers.