6 themes from 618 that can apply year-round in China

Many China commentators look to the country’s big ecommerce festival results as a barometer for consumer sentiment. China’s second-largest festival, 618 is now in full swing, and showing some positive signals of Chinese consumers’ willingness to spend.

Alibaba and JD, who were suspiciously opaque about their 618 and Singles’ Day results last year, are singing from the roof tops about their 618 results this year.

37,000+ brands doubled sales on Alibaba platforms so far this 618, and 185 brands have achieved more than ¥100 million ($13.8m) in gross merchandise sales this year. Apple, after offering its biggest discounts yet, racked up over ¥1.5 billion ($200 million) in sales in its first hour of the festival. Similarly, JD has trumpeted the 10,000+ brands who saw transaction volume increase by over 500% in the first four hours on 2023.

In addition to being a bellwether for Chinese consumer spending, the big ecommerce festivals often provide themes which can help steer China marketing strategies for the rest of the year. Below are six themes that we’ve noted from this 618.

The first theme is the simplification of promotions. Recent shopping festivals have seen consumers put off by complicated offers and conditions. Both the platforms and vendors have taken notice this year, not offering their pre-sales period, rather just offering shorter, flash sales, like the festivals of old.

Many Chinese consumers are feeling a little stressed at the moment as we’ve noted here, here, here and many other places. Brands that offer transparent and simplified products and customer journeys are likely to connect with consumers seeking to simplify their lives.

Theme two is the continued growth and importance of livestreaming as a channel to sell your wares – particularly those which are brand-owned. Viewers for livestreaming on JD increased 460% from last year. Alibaba saw 38 of its livestreaming rooms turnover more than ¥100 million ($13.8m), over half of which were from livestreams owned by brands, not KOLs. RED/Xiaohongshu, who has been working hard to convert its traffic to more sales, saw the number of brand-operated livestreams grow 380% and GMV up 420% from last year.

The third theme is the increasing pulling power of lower tier cities on China’s retail spending, which is evident in this year’s 618. But the results also highlight their continued price sensitivity. JD’s super-cheap offer of ¥9.9 ($1.37) items with free shipping attracted over 100 times more shoppers than last year, with over three-quarters coming from third tier or lower cities.

The forth theme is increasing focus on building loyalty as the cost of acquisition continues to rise in China. Alibaba is case in point, doubling down on its 88VIP program, offering ¥10 billion ($1.38b) in coupons to members. Last quarter, Alibaba saw its 88VIP members increase in double-digits year-on-year to 35 million.

The fifth theme is Chinese platforms are using 618 to help their push into overseas markets. The rise of Temu and Shein overseas has seen Alibaba playing catch up.  We saw this with the announcement of David Beckham as a global ambassador during the promotion, and the quirky multi-language 618 instructions.

The final theme is the attractiveness of deals to Chinese consumers, which come hand-in-hand with China’s ecommerce festivals. These need little explanation. Just so no one misses out, we’re following Apple’s lead by providing our broadest discounts yet. We’re offering 20% off all of our reports and valuable Tracker subscriptions (which will last 12-months). Just enter the code 618SKINNY. Valid until 20 June.