Today is Chinese New Year and research by Criteo has found that more people than ever before have been using the internet to do their shopping in preparation for the celebrations.
Chinese people traditionally buy new clothes for themselves and gifts for other people to celebrate the New Year and represent new beginnings.
Criteo's research found that online sales went up by 40% in the fortnight leading up to Chinese New Year, with mobile ecommerce seeing a rise in popularity as affordable smartphones become more widely available in the region.
The study also found that many consumers were willing to buy from foreign sites if prices were lower, so long as fast delivery times were guaranteed.
To coincide with the mass movement of people as people go on holiday to celebrate the New Year, the leading Chinese internet giant Baidu has just announced that it has expanded its Baidu Maps service to several foreign markets.
From today, people will be able to use Baidu Maps in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.
A Baidu spokesperson commented on the expansion, saying: “Once the service becomes available in foreign countries, it will become their top choice, as the Chinese-language version will hold great appeal to those who can't speak English.”
Baidu hopes to take back traffic from Google with its maps offering.Â
