The Apps Driving China's 'He-Conomy'

SHANGHAI, China - As soon as a new user registers on Chinese sneaker trading platform and social media community app Poizon, they are tempted to spend.

After selecting specific interest categories as they curate their own "explore page," a new Poizon user will receive a "newcomer's gift": a set of vouchers worth 520 yuan (around $73.5) to spend on the app's extensive marketplace including - but not limited to - sneaker styles from Air Force 1s to Yeezys. This is just one of the many ways tech companies are getting Chinese men to shop.

While apps like Xiaohongshu and Meipai have established themselves as the go-to channels for China's influencers and brands to engage with millennial female consumers, their male counterparts have been left behind. But as the mainland's menswear market continues to grow, buzzy new tech platforms like Poizon have become the place for China's male consumers to purchase their wares. Poizon is reportedly the country's largest sneaker resale platform and has raised enough in a funding round this year to reach unicorn status.

Poizon, alongside Nice, Dounew and Chao are just some of the players creating digital spaces for engaged communities to share, connect, and shop. As men go on to drive a bigger slice of Chinese consumption, knowing how to tap into the commercial opportunities these channels offer will prove indispensable for global brands and retailers looking to compete with local players.

In recent years, China's menswear market has stepped up to give its female equivalent a run for its money. It is predicted to be worth $92.9 billion by 2023, up from $78.8 billion in 2015, according to market research firm Euromonitor.

The rise of China's once-nascent male consumers has shaped what is now referred to as its "ta jing ji," or "he-conomy." From the country's expanding middle class and disposable incomes to the global streetwear boom, evolving gender roles and Kpop-influenced rise of "little fresh meat," it was only a matter of time before male consumption gained speed.

In 2014, Makwon, a 22-year-old fashion key opinion leader (KOL) started sharing outfit images and discovering style inspiration on social e-commerce app Nice, and has since accumulated 249,608 followers. The app was launched six years ago as a male fashion platform but has since expanded into content on travel, music, sports, food and tech. The app has partnered with the likes of Nike and Uniqlo, both of which have accounts on the platform.

China's menswear market is predicted to be worth $92.9 billion by 2023, up from $78.8 billion in 2015.

"I mostly pay attention to trending posts and use them as inspiration for myself and my work," says Makwon, who also works as a stylist. He doesn't consider himself a sneakerhead but has purchased two pairs of Nikes (the Ambush Air Max collaboration and Air Max 98's) on the app.

But Nice isn't the only Chinese app leveraging engaged social communities to build successful e-commerce businesses. Its rivals include aforementioned Poizon and Dounew, a similar offering introduced in 2016.

These companies took cues from the likes of StockX, Grailed, GOAT Group, Stadium Goods and Bump - lucrative online marketplaces that, in StockX's case, rode the streetwear wave to build billion dollar resale businesses.

"[These apps] have a very specific focus on e-commerce and driving sales," says Arnold Ma, Founder and CEO of China-focused digital agency Qumin. However, they aren't all the same.

Where Poizon is streetwear-focused, Nice hones in on sneakers and is essentially "a Chinese version of StockX" with a social media element added in, says Ma. Where all three apps have both B2C and C2C elements, Poizon also offers a service in the form of paid-for authentication by "sneaker experts."

Meanwhile, Chao, an app launched just this year by Chinese Q&A platform Zhihu, is also an e-commerce platform but hasn't yet introduced e-commerce functionalities to its social feed - Ma refers to it as a Taobao store aggregator for niche interests groups.

What the Chinese firms are doing differently is the menswear-focused resale model to their local tech landscape - one where social e-commerce has become the norm, thanks to Xiaohongshu, WeChat and livestream apps YY.com, Inke, Huajiao and Yizhibo.

Like Xiaohongshu, Chao, Dounew and Poizon make it easy to shop within the app, from tags that content creators add to their posts. Meanwhile, advanced AI algorithms help tailor explore feeds to users' interests to keep them engaged and spending.

Aside from being male-focused, Ma says that the biggest difference between apps like Nice and Poizon is that they are e-commerce platforms first and social media apps second, whereas Xiaohongshu qualifies as a "pure play social media platform."

For brands accustomed to marketing to Chinese female shoppers on Xiaohongshu, appealing to users on male-focused platforms demands a different strategy.

While all of the above platforms can ultimately be categorised as social e-commerce platforms, meaning a dual store and content strategy will serve brands targeting Chinese millennial and Gen-Z shoppers (save for Chao, which hasn't yet introduced in-feed shopping).

Ma argues that because the rest of the menswear apps lean towards e-commerce (rather than social media), they won't be enough where marketing is concerned. "[Brands] will need other forms of activation to raise brand awareness," he says, recommending must-have platforms Weibo and Douyin for the job, in addition to WeChat for engaging with consumers and building brand affinity. "There is no better platform on the planet for implementing post [and] pre-sale [social customer relationship management] than WeChat."

But for those looking for a targeted channel to reach the mainland's streetwear-loving male consumers, the likes of Nice are an opportunity that can't be missed. In fact, Ma reckons that they are more important for brands than WeChat and Weibo.

"If you are in the streetwear category, you absolutely can't miss these platforms."

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