How Chinese Consumers Are Redefining Fragrance

Published on July 7, 2026

Only around 5% of Chinese consumers regularly use fragrance, compared with 40% to 50% in many Western markets.

For many years, perfume was often associated with masking unpleasant smells rather than expressing personality. While those perceptions are gradually changing, they continue to influence how many consumers think about fragrance today.

That makes fragrance unusual among China’s fast-growing beauty categories. Growth is no longer being driven solely by new products or brands. It is being shaped by changing attitudes towards scent itself and the role it plays in everyday life.

Overview:

Why Chinese Consumers Are Rethinking Fragrance

In many Western markets, fragrance is an ordinary part of daily life. Consumers wear it to work, to dinner, or simply because they enjoy it.

China has traditionally viewed fragrance differently.

For many consumers, perfume was associated with masking unpleasant smells rather than adding something desirable. Even today, discussions on RedNote (Xiaohongshu) regularly question why fragrance is necessary at all, while stronger Western scents are often described as excessive.

That perception is beginning to shift.

Younger consumers increasingly approach fragrance the way they approach fashion, beauty, or jewellery. Scent has become another form of personal expression.

The significance of this change goes beyond perfume sales. Before consumers choose a fragrance brand, they first need to decide that fragrance belongs in their lives. Similar shifts are taking place across other personal care categories, including China’s growing men’s beauty market. More Chinese consumers are now making that decision.

How China's Fragrance Market Sells Scent Online

Few beauty products seem less suited to e-commerce than fragrance.

Consumers can see a lipstick colour, compare skincare ingredients, or watch a makeup tutorial. Fragrance offers none of those advantages. The product’s defining characteristic cannot be experienced through a screen.

Yet much of China’s fragrance growth is happening online.

According to WPIC Discripto® marketplace data, fragrance sales across Tmall and Douyin increased from RMB 10.96 billion (about US$1.5 billion) in 2023 to RMB 13.92 billion (US$1.9 billion) in 2025. During the same period, Douyin’s share of sales grew from 23% to 39%, while its share of volume rose from 38% to 60%.

The explanation lies in how fragrance is marketed.

Brands rarely lead with scent notes alone. Instead, fragrance is packaged as a feeling, a memory, or a lifestyle. Consumers are invited to imagine a mood before they ever experience the product itself.

This has made social platforms particularly influential. A creator describing a fragrance as clean, comforting, nostalgic, or sophisticated can often communicate more than a list of ingredients ever could.

For a category still building new consumers, storytelling has become almost as important as scent itself.

Why Fragrance Is Expanding Beyond Perfume

Not every fragrance consumer begins with perfume.

Many first encounter scent through home fragrances, body mists, hair perfumes, and scented body care. Others arrive through products that blur the line between fragrance and personal care.

Salt & Stone offers an interesting example.

While the brand’s scents are available across multiple product categories, its deodorants have become especially popular among some Chinese consumers. The appeal often lies in the format itself. Rather than being viewed primarily as a deodorant, the product is frequently used more like a solid perfume, offering an easy way to wear a fragrance throughout the day.

The distinction is subtle but revealing.

In mature fragrance markets, consumers typically move between fragrance brands. But in China, many consumers are still discovering how fragrance fits into their routines. The journey does not always begin with a bottle of perfume.

Brands have adapted accordingly. Le Monde Gourmand has found success by positioning fragrance around exploration, mood, and sensory discovery rather than traditional luxury cues. Its growth reflects a broader shift within the category, where fragrance is becoming less about ownership and more about experience.

That may prove to be one of the defining characteristics of China’s fragrance market. Some of tomorrow’s fragrance consumers may never have set out to buy perfume in the first place.

Fragrance's Next Challenge

The future of China’s fragrance market may not be decided by perfume alone.

As consumers experiment with scent through home products, body care, and new formats, the line between fragrance and lifestyle continues to blur. For many consumers, the journey begins long before they purchase their first bottle of perfume.

That creates a very different challenge from the one fragrance brands faced a decade ago.

The question is no longer whether Chinese consumers will embrace fragrance. Increasingly, they already are. The question is what fragrance becomes once consumers start making it part of their daily lives.

Brands exploring opportunities in China’s fragrance market can contact WPIC to learn more.

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