Nearly 41 percent of surveyed Chinese consumers said they would increase their spending on luxury goods over the next 12 months, according to Ruder Finn’s newly-released 2021 China Luxury Forecast.

The survey tracked responses from 1,500 mainland Chinese consumers with average annual household income of 1.44 million yuan ($224,434) during the month of January. The majority of respondents said they would increase or maintain their spending on beauty and cosmetics, with clothing and shoes the next most popular categories.

Nearly 36 percent of respondents said they spent more on luxury in 2020 than they had planned to. Niche luxury brands, excluding watches, were among their key purchases, the survey said.

The pandemic has accelerated the use of digital channels among consumers, with 55 percent of respondents saying they they prefer to purchase luxury goods online since Covid-19 started. Somewhat surprisingly, official brand websites were the top choice for consumers who wanted to purchase online, beating out platforms such as Tmall and JD.com.