China's holiday shoppers snapped up robots: embodied robot sales jumped 130% during National Day week

Big-data monitoring from the Ministry of Commerce shows embodied robots and smart glasses leading China's holiday consumption — a sign the technology is moving from factory floors to shopping carts.

Sales of embodied intelligent robots on major Chinese e-commerce platforms surged 130% year on year during the National Day holiday, according to big-data monitoring released by China's Ministry of Commerce on October 7. The figures cover October 1 to 6.

Robots led every category the ministry tracked. Smart glasses sales doubled, exoskeleton assist devices rose 12.8%, and outdoor sports equipment gained 10.4%. Robots and smart glasses clearly outpaced the rest.

The ministry's summary, as reported, did not include absolute sales volumes or a breakdown by product type or price tier, so the base behind the 130% figure is unclear. Percentage gains off small bases can look outsized — but the direction is what matters: embodied robots are being bought through ordinary retail channels during a peak shopping week, not only procured by factories and logistics operators.

The holiday reading follows earlier data from the same source. TMTPOST reported in March that the ministry put embodied intelligent robot sales up 13% year on year in the first two months of 2026, with smart glasses on key platforms up 1.8 times. The periods are not directly comparable, but the holiday figure is far higher.

Enterprise demand has been strong in parallel. China Daily Asia reported that sales of China's embodied-AI companies rose 22.4% year on year in January through May 2026, with industrial purchases of embodied robots up 2.3 times. Consumer and enterprise channels appear to be growing at the same time, though the sources do not break out their relative size.

Policy forms part of the backdrop. The ministry has repeatedly credited China's consumer-goods trade-in program with lifting sales of intelligent and green products. The October 7 release does not attribute the robot figure to the program, and no causal link has been established for this specific number.

The pattern extends a longer trend. During the 2025 National Day holiday, ministry data showed green smart products in demand, with smart home appliances up 14.3% — “smart consumption” as a continuing theme, now reaching a newer category.

Open questions remain. The ministry's summary does not define which products count as “embodied intelligent robots” in consumer data, nor whether the surge reflects household buyers, gifts, hobbyist and educational products, or small businesses buying through retail platforms. Full-year platform data should help separate a seasonal burst from a durable consumer market.