Top ten gifts for children on Children’s Day (File picture)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- The most expected thing for children on Children’s Day is to receive gifts. However, someone laughed and someone cried for their gifts. According to the consumption data on the Children’s Day issued by Pinduoduo, many parents prepared sweet gifts for their children, and the orders of children’s smartwatches and Disney tickets have been increased significantly; however, some parents sent “expectations and pressures” to their children because the orders of children programming books, children’s English books and other learning materials were more than twice the growth.

“Behind the explosive growth of programming books and teaching aids for children, we can see that many parents are facing great educational anxiety; and from learning English to learning programming, there is the spread of adult social pressure to the field of early childhood education,” said Fan Rizhao who is the Researcher of New Consumption Institute of Pinduoduo.

Different from parents’ desperate efforts to give children teaching aids, extra-curriculum books account for a large proportion of products purchased by children consumers, especially the traditional classics represented by China’s four great classic novels, in the 15 days before the arrival of Children’s Day, the growth rate exceeded 222%.

Another noteworthy phenomenon is that Children's Day is no longer just for children, but it is becoming a national carnival. In the 15 days before the Children’s Day, the number of adults buying children’s gifts-related products increased by 317% year-on-year, among which 39.1% of adults bought “nostalgia-specific” Children’s Day gifts such as snacks and school uniforms.

At the same time, with the popularity of mobile payments and the convenience of online shopping brought by new e-commerce, young people have realized the “do-it-themselves and gift freedom”. According to the data, the number of post-2000s users who paid independently for gifts including blind boxes, Legos and handmade gifts increased by 137% year-on-year during the statistical period, which means more teenagers are becoming financially independent and buying gifts themselves.

“Nowadays, there are two trends in teen consumption. First, the need for information transcends the need for material goods; and second, they desire for financial freedom to make independent purchases,” said Fan Rizhao. Rather than passively waiting for their parents to give them a gift, children want their parents’ support in choosing their own gifts, and “Giving freedom is more important than giving gifts”. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)