Chinese white-collar workers are willing to spend more money on midnight snacks, even more than lunch

Recently, the convenience store chain “Bianlifeng” released the “White-collar midnight snack report” (hereinafter referred to as “the report”). The report briefly statistics the habits of Chinese white-collar consumers in eating midnight snacks. The survey data comes from consumers in more than 1800 Bianlifeng stores in 20 cities in China.

According to the report, midnight snacks are more attractive to men: nearly 60 percent of those who regularly eat midnight snacks are men and only 41.23 percent are women. However, compared with other cities, Nanjing has a slightly higher proportion of female midnight snacks, accounting for 43.56% of the total local midnight snack consumers. Post-90s and post-00s become the main consumption of midnight snacks, accounting for more than 70% of the total, and the proportion of post-00s shows an upward trend; the number of people born in the 1970s and 1980s is not as frequent as the younger generation, only 10.3% and 17.2% respectively.

The report shows that more than 30% of white-collar workers eat midnight snacks because they often work overtime. However, midnight snacks are not all eaten because of overtime, with 49.1% and 14.7% of respondents respectively saying that the main reasons for eating midnight snacks are friend gatherings and customer socializing. In busy big cities, there are more white-collar workers who eat midnight snacks because they work overtime and often miss dinner.

The report also shows that more than 50 percent of respondents often enjoy midnight snacks alone. Night markets and barbecue stalls are still the most common places for white-collar workers to eat midnight snacks, accounting for 69.78% of respondents chose restaurants and restaurants, while convenience stores ranked third by a narrow margin (34.09%).

When choosing midnight snacks, the respondents were not sensitive to the price. The one who is most willing to pay for midnight snacks is Shanghai white-collar workers. Compared with Bianlifeng’s “White-collar lunch report” released in November, only 10% of white-collar workers spent more than 30 yuan on average for lunch, while 62.5% of midnight snacks at the same price, more than six times. This shows the potential of the midnight snack market.

According to national data, instant noodle, fried food and milk are the three most popular midnight snacks in convenience stores, but the situation varies from city to city. Consumers in Shenzhen work late and eat some Cantonese or Hong Kong-style snacks at midnight snacks. Consumers in Suzhou prefer bread and cake. Beijing consumers like to drink, but also like salty and spicy snacks. Shanghai white-collar workers, on the other hand, often consume coffee at night.