Demand for Lunar New Year Products Decreased from 2022 – 2023
Interest in celebrating Lunar New Year appears to be on the decline among American shoppers, with online demand for many festive items like hanging lanterns, firecrackers, and fortune cookies down by 23% on average during 2023. This, according to new data from ecommerce accelerator, Pattern.
Why it matters: As the Lunar New Year approaches for 2024, the need for online retailers to stock up on celebratory items may not be as strong if last year’s trends are an indication of what’s to be expected during the lead-up to this year’s holiday.
What we’re seeing: We evaluated the most searched-for products on Amazon U.S. Marketplace for every day of 2022 and 2023 to understand how the Lunar New Year influenced consumer demand for some of the most commonly purchased festive items. Here’s how demand for these items during the lead-up to Lunar New Year 2023 compared to the same period in 2022:
- Demand for Tea Accessories decreased by 52% from Lunar New Year 2022 – 2023
- Hanging Lanterns -31%
- Rice Flour -29%
- Firecrackers -27%
- Gourmet Tea -25%
- Lunar New Year Decorations -23%
- Rice Cakes -23%
- Chinese Zodiac -18%
- Fortune Cookies -12%
- Red Beans -9%
Yes, but: While overall interest among Americans may be down, interest among Chinese Americans still appears to be on the rise. Demand for some of the more traditional celebratory items has seen an increase year over year, with red envelopes seeing the largest jump in demand at 182%:
- Demand for Red Envelopes increased by 182% from Lunar New Year 2022 – 2023
- Money Envelopes +76%
- Chinese New Year Cards +2%
The takeaway: Despite increased demand for more traditional celebratory items, overall interest among Americans in celebrating the Lunar New Year appears to be on the decline. While it may be wise to stock up on red envelopes and festive cards, ecommerce retailers likely won’t see an increase in demand for other celebratory items, such as hanging lanterns, decorations, tea, or firecrackers.
- Pattern’s data science team analyzed demand data on Amazon during every day of 2022 and 2023 to understand trends in Lunar New Year celebrations in the U.S. If you’re interested in using insights like these to power your ecommerce strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team for more information.
