Homemakers set to exploit opportunities in O2O era

In the capital Beijing, a full-time trained and experienced nanny can be employed for about 6,000 yuan to 7,000 yuan a month. Those who have already made a name for themselves through employer recommendations and reviews command salaries of around 10,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan a month, which is as much as what a white-collar worker might make these days.

There is clearly a demand-supply gap, which is making good nannies popular in the market. "It's really a hard job to be a full-time nanny. All my time goes into delivering top-class services to my employers. I'm booked till well into the middle of next year. The last few Spring Festival holidays were all spent at my clients' homes," said a nanny surnamed Li.

She has been working in Beijing for more than 10 years now. Her salary now tops 10,000 yuan a month.

From 2013 to 2017, homemaking services grew by an annual compound growth rate of 21.6 percent. The sector is showing remarkable future growth potential, consultancy Frost & Sullivan found after undertaking a study.

Interestingly, in terms of growth rate, online home services outgrew offline peers. In 2013, their market scale was 46.05 billion yuan, which ballooned to 167.78 billion yuan in 2016, up 264 percent over a three-year period, Frost& Sullivan found.

The corresponding figures for the offline segment were 146 billion yuan in 2013 and 182 billion yuan in 2016, up 24.7 percent.

Typically, homemaking or housekeeping services include cleaning bathroom, kitchen and other areas of the home; washing dishes; laundry and ironing; washing or mopping floors; defrosting refrigerators; making and changing beds; dusting and vacuuming; shopping for food and household supplies; planning, preparing, and serving health and balanced meals; looking after kids or the elderly when the employer is away; and so on.