1. research background and purpose

Candy is a popular food, with a variety of categories, shapes, tastes, colors, packaging and other characteristics, to meet the taste and aesthetic needs of different consumers, but also has a certain nutritional and health functions. The scale and potential of the candy market are very large. In 2022, the retail sales of China's candy market reached 56 billion billion yuan, an increase of 10.5 percent year-on-year.

With the development and popularization of Internet technology, e-commerce has become one of the important sales channels of the candy industry, especially the O2O model, that is, online ordering and offline distribution mode, which can provide consumers with convenient, fast and personalized shopping experience, but also bring new business opportunities and challenges for candy enterprises. In 2022, the transaction scale of China's fresh e-commerce market will be 560.14 billion yuan, of which candy e-commerce O2O will account for about 10%, or about 56 billion yuan, an increase of 20.25 over the previous year.

Shangpu Consulting Company is a well-known independent third-party research and investment and financing consulting agency in China, dedicated to providing professional solutions for corporate strategic decision-making. Shangpu Consulting has rich experience and customer resources in the candy e-commerce O2O industry. It has provided market research, data analysis, product optimization, marketing strategy and other consulting services for many well-known candy e-commerce O2O platforms. Good results and reputation.

In order to further understand the development status and trend of the candy e-commerce O2O industry, as well as the buying habits and needs of consumers, Shangpu Consulting Company decided to carry out a professional research project aimed at providing valuable insights and suggestions for the candy e-commerce O2O industry to help it enhance its competitiveness and market share. This paper is one of the results of the research project, mainly introduces the research methods and results of candy e-commerce O2O consumer buying habits.

2. research methods and data sources

This paper uses a variety of research methods and data sources, including:

Questionnaire survey: An online questionnaire for candy e-commerce O2O consumers was designed, including basic information about consumers, purchase frequency, purchase amount, purchase channels, purchase categories, purchase motivation, purchase preferences, purchase satisfaction and other issues. A total of 1000 valid samples were collected, and descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were carried out.

In-depth interview: 20 representative candy e-commerce O2O consumers were invited to conduct semi-structured in-depth interviews. Through open questions, they deeply understood the details of consumers' purchasing psychology, purchasing process, purchasing experience, purchasing feedback, etc., and carried out content analysis and theme induction.

Web page analysis: Using web crawler and text mining technology, the web page content of the candy e-commerce O2O platform is collected, including product information, price information, promotion information, comment information, etc., and the web page structure analysis, web page content analysis, web page sentiment analysis, etc.

Transaction data mining: using the transaction data of candy e-commerce O2O platform provided by the partners of shangpu consulting company, including user ID, order ID, order time, order amount, order content, order status, etc., data cleaning, data integration and data analysis are carried out, and data mining technologies such as association rule analysis, cluster analysis, classification analysis and regression analysis are used, mining the consumer's purchase pattern, purchase characteristics, purchase behavior and so on.

3. research results and analysis

According to the above research methods and data sources, the following research results and analysis are obtained:

糖果电商O2O消费者的特征：糖果电商O2O消费者以25- 34岁的年轻人为主，占比达到了45.6%，其次是35- 44岁的中年人，占比为28.4%，男女比例接近，男性占比为51.2%，女性占比为48.8%。糖果电商O2O消费者的收入水平较高，月收入在5000- 10000元的占比为38.7%，在10000- 20000元的占比为31.2%。糖果电商O2O消费者的教育水平较高，本科以上学历的占比为67.5%。糖果电商O2O消费者的地域分布较为集中，一线城市的占比为46.3%，二线城市的占比为32.8%。

The needs of candy e-commerce O2O consumers: the purchase needs of candy e-commerce O2O consumers are mainly as follows: first, to satisfy their appetite and enjoy the delicacy and happiness brought by candy, which is the most basic demand, accounting for 58.3; The second is to give gifts or share them with relatives and friends to express their thoughts and feelings. This is a social demand, accounting for 24.7; third, to supplement nutrition or health care, use candy to regulate one's physical and mental state, which is a functional need, accounting for 12.4 percent; fourth, to try fresh or special candy to satisfy one's curiosity and desire to explore, which is an innovative need, accounting for 4.6 percent.

Motivation of candy e-commerce O2O consumers: The purchase motivation of candy e-commerce O2O consumers is mainly as follows: First, brand influence. Consumers have certain cognition and trust in candy brands and will choose brands they are familiar with or like, or affected by brand publicity and recommend, accounting for 36.5 percent; Second, price influence, consumers will according to their own budget and spending power, choose the appropriate price range, or be affected by price concessions and discounts, accounting for 28.7; third, taste influence, consumers will choose the candy taste that suits them according to their own taste preferences, or be affected by the diversity and novelty of tastes, accounting for 19.3; fourth, service influence, consumers will according to their own needs and expectations, the choice of the candy e-commerce O2O platform that provides high-quality and efficient services, or is affected by the differentiation and personalization of services, accounted for 15.5.

Preferences of candy e-commerce O2O consumers: the purchasing preferences of candy e-commerce O2O consumers are mainly as follows: first, category preference. consumers have different preferences for candy categories. according to the results of questionnaire survey, consumers' favorite candy category is chocolate, accounting for 38.2, followed by soft candy, accounting for 26.4, followed by hard candy, accounting for 18.7, and finally chewing gum, the proportion is 16.7; the second is shape preference. Consumers have different preferences for the shape of candy. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, consumers' favorite candy shape is round, accounting for 34.6, followed by square, accounting for 24.8, followed by heart, accounting for 21.9, and finally other shapes, accounting for 18.7. Third, taste preference, consumers have different preferences for the taste of candy. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, consumers' favorite candy taste is sweet, accounting for 42.3 percent, followed by sour, accounting for 27.5 percent, salty, accounting for 16.4 percent, and finally spicy, accounting for 13.8 percent. Fourth, color preference, consumers have different preferences for the color of candy, according to the results of the questionnaire survey, consumers' favorite candy color is red, accounting for 32.1 percent, followed by yellow, accounting for 25.6 percent, green again, accounting for 19.7 percent, and finally other colors, accounting for 22.6 percent. Fifth, packaging preference. Consumers have different preferences for candy packaging. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, consumers' favorite candy packaging is carton, accounting for 37.8 percent, followed by plastic bags, accounting for 29.3 percent, iron boxes, accounting for 18.4 percent, and finally other packaging, accounting for 14.5 percent.

Consumer satisfaction of candy e-commerce O2O: Consumer satisfaction of candy e-commerce O2O platform is mainly evaluated from the following aspects: first, product satisfaction, consumer satisfaction with the quality, taste, freshness, shelf life and other aspects of candy products. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, the average score of consumer satisfaction with candy products is 4.2 (full score is 5), of which 28.6 are very satisfied, the proportion of satisfaction is 49.7, the proportion of general is 17.8, and the proportion of dissatisfaction is 3.9. The second is price satisfaction, consumers' satisfaction with the price, cost performance and preferential strength of candy products. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, consumers' average price satisfaction with candy products is 3.9 (out of 5), of which 21.4 are very satisfied, the proportion of satisfaction is 44.6, the proportion of general is 25.3, and the proportion of dissatisfaction is 8.7. The third is service satisfaction. Consumers' satisfaction with the services of the candy e-commerce O2O platform, including ordering, payment, distribution, after-sales, etc. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, the average score of consumers' satisfaction with the services of the candy e-commerce O2O platform is 4.1 (out of 5), of these, 26.8 per cent were very satisfied, 48.2 per cent were satisfied, 19.6 per cent were average and 5.4 per cent were dissatisfied.

4. research conclusions and recommendations

According to the above research results and analysis, this paper draws the following researchConclusionand recommendations:

Candy e-commerce O2O industry is an industry with great potential and competitiveness, which can provide consumers with convenient, fast and personalized shopping experience, and also bring new business opportunities and challenges for candy enterprises. The candy e-commerce O2O industry should seize the opportunity of the market, constantly innovate and optimize, and enhance its core competitiveness and market share.

Candy e-commerce O2O consumers are a group with diversified and personalized needs and preferences, which need to be deeply understood and satisfied by candy e-commerce O2O platform and candy enterprises to establish and maintain good consumer relations. Candy e-commerce O2O platform and candy enterprises should explore consumers' buying habits through market research and data analysis, including consumers' characteristics, needs, motivations, preferences, satisfaction and other aspects, formulate and implement targeted product and service strategies, and improve consumers' loyalty and reputation.

The research methods and data sources of this paper are varied, which can comprehensively and deeply analyze the purchasing habits of O2O consumers from different angles and levels, and provide valuable insights and suggestions. The research methods and data sources of this paper also have certain limitations and advantages, which need to be continuously improved and improved to improve the validity and reliability of the research. The research methods and data sources of this paper can also provide reference and reference for the study of consumer buying habits in other industries and fields.