According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics on March 18, China's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 8.6079 trillion yuan from January to February 2026, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%. Retail sales in February grew 0.81% month-on-month, with the recovery in Spring Festival consumption serving as the primary growth driver. By category, the consumer market showed structural highlights: retail sales of gold, silver, and jewelry increased by 13.0% year-on-year, as consumer demand steadily recovered amid high and fluctuating gold prices. Retail sales of cosmetics rose by 4.5% year-on-year, with leading domestic brands such as Proya and Maogeping continuing their strong growth. However, it is noteworthy that the divergence in online channels has intensified. In February, the GMV of cosmetics on Douyin fell by 1.13% year-on-year due to the timing shift of the Spring Festival and rising traffic costs, making it urgent for brands to optimize their advertising efficiency.

The recovery in Spring Festival consumption boosted retail sales, with policies continuing to stimulate domestic demand. Total retail sales from January to February amounted to 8.6079 trillion yuan, up 2.8% year-on-year, with February seeing a 0.81% increase from January, mainly driven by the rebound in holiday spending. According to monitoring by the Ministry of Commerce, during the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, the average daily sales of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide increased by 5.7% compared to 2025. Meanwhile, the Two Sessions in March 2026 emphasized the coordinated efforts of fiscal, monetary, and industrial policies to expand domestic demand, providing strong policy support for the development of the retail sector and promoting deep adjustments in retail formats. Looking ahead, industry transformation will continue to focus on supermarket adjustments, hard discount retail, and instant retail. After large-scale changes in 2024-2025, the effects of corporate adjustments are expected to become more evident in 2026.

Consumer demand is recovering, and the operational quality of physical stores is improving. From January to February, retail sales of gold, silver, and jewelry reached 83.7 billion yuan, up 13.0% year-on-year. After a period of intensive store closures and adjustments, single-store performance has continued to improve. Since 2026, with gold prices fluctuating at high levels, consumer demand has steadily recovered, leading the industry into a phase of high-quality growth.

While the cosmetics market is expanding, channel performance is diverging, and Douyin's traffic costs continue to rise. Retail sales of cosmetics from January to February totaled 75.3 billion yuan, up 4.5% year-on-year, indicating an overall upward trend in China's cosmetics retail market. According to the Top 20 cosmetics brands ranking on major e-commerce platforms during this period, leading cosmetics brands showed strong growth momentum, with Proya leading among domestic brands and Maogeping maintaining high growth thanks to its offline channel advantages and brand effect. Despite the overall growth trend in cosmetics, online channel performance varied. According to industry data, due to the timing shift of the Spring Festival and rising traffic costs, the GMV of cosmetics on Douyin fell by 1.13% year-on-year in February. It is expected that brands will accelerate efforts to optimize advertising efficiency and improve their live-streaming channels.