Chinese shoppers say they would shun American brands during the world’s busiest 24 hours of online shopping

The world’s largest online shopping event may be in the grips of a nationalistic fervour, as three in four Chinese consumers say they will avoid US labels, opting for local brands, during Singles’ Day on November 11.

Up to 78 per cent of Chinese consumers said they would avoid buying American brands, opting instead for Chinese products, with more than half of them citing “patriotism” as the main reason, according to AlixPartners, citing a survey of 2,000 adult Chinese consumers.

The result of the survey, conducted between October 2 and 7, underscores how the year-long US-China trade war is seeping into the retail industry and changing how consumers in the most populous nation on Earth spend their money. The two countries had slapped tariffs on each other’s products for more than a year, in a tit-for-tat spat that is crimping retail sales and backfiring on their economies.

“Chinese consumers … prefer local brands, and the recent rise in pro-China feeling has only pushed this further,” said AlixPartner’s director Jason Ong in Shanghai. “Local brands have come of age in China; no longer are they scrappy brands with poor product, design, quality, or weak marketing.”

Also known as Double 11, the 24 hours of online shopping festival on Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao, Tmall and AliExpress platforms have evolved into the biggest e-commerce event, eclipsing Amazon.com’s Prime Day, Black Friday or Cyber Monday shopping festivals.