China is warming up for the largest shopping festival since the coronavirus outbreak, the mid-year 618 Shopping Festival.

Taobao/Tmall 618 2020

On May 19, Tmall announced that during the period of 618, Tmall will, together with many local governments and brands, issue the largest scale of cash consumption coupons and subsidies this year, with an estimated amount of more than 10 billion yuan.

Chinese cities have been issuing billions worth of e-coupons to stimulate consumption.

According to Tmall, more than 100,000 brands have signed up for this year’s Tmall 618, double the number last year.

In addition, more than 10 million products will offer discounts in this year’s Tmall 618, which is in line with last year’s Tmall Double 11. All these figures have broken the historical record of Tmall 618.

In this year’s Tmall 618, Alibaba took “consumption voucher” as a new way of “festival making”, leading the national consumption recovery, promoting the release of China’s domestic demand potential, and bringing the biggest growth opportunity for the brand in the first half of this year.

Tmall said that the cash consumption coupons and subsidies issued by Tmall 618 will cover the broadest population ever. Besides, the conditions for using cash vouchers and subsidies will also be the most relaxed this year.

Tmall 618 presales will start from 0:00 on May 25, with official sales starting on June 1 until June 20, 2020.

The epidemic has affected all aspects of society, and businesses have also suffered from different degrees of damage. They are looking forward to “a key battle”, either to turn the tide or to ensure growth.

Tmall 618 is such an opportunity. According to the analysis of the insiders, the biggest wave of consumption subsidy will come in Tmall 618 after the epidemic enters the stage of normalization prevention and control.

More than 100,000 brands have signed up for this year’s Tmall 618, double that of last year’s 618. More than 10 million items have been discounted to participate, which is in line with last year’s Double 11.

Affected by the epidemic, since February of this year, a large number of offline stores have launched stores on Tmall, including IKEA, Tesla, and etc.

To many merchants in China, previously participating in the 618 promotion was a growth engine; but, now it’s more “life saving”.

Update (May 27, 2020): In the first hour of Tmall 618 pre-sale, the total transactions increased by 515% year on year. Within the first two hours of the pre-sale, the transactions of several brands including Lancome and L’Oreal exceeded 100 million yuan. Subscribe to get more timely insights.

Jingdong (JD) 618 2020

This is the 17th year for JD.com to hold its 618 Grand Promotion. JD will provide RMB 10 billion yuan in subsidies, hundreds of billions of discounts, and 10 billion yuan consumption coupons during the JD 618 event this year, announced on 25 May.

This year’s 618 is the sales promotion with the largest amount of discounts ever with most new product launches. Among the many discounts and promotions offered, JD.com will provide over 200 million units at 50% discount and sell over 200 million units of new products.

JD.com will also help more than 150 brands to sell over RMB 100 million in products through innovative empowerment initiatives, subsidy support and other measures, and help more than 100,000 small and medium-sized brands and merchants to double their transactions.

JD will host over 300,000 key live streaming sessions during this year’s 618. It will also work with partners including Kuaishou, Douyin (TikTok), Wesee, Bilibili, Huya, Douyu, and others.

JD will invite top executives from brands such as Huawei, Honor, and Haier to interact with consumers directly, offering big discounts. JD’s executives and sales managers will also join JD Live.

JD Live will invite more than 100 civil servants, such as mayors, county heads, and directors of commerce to act as live streaming anchors to promote local agricultural products to help farmers and industries affected by COVID-19.

Home Appliance

Over 40 brands have created over 200 special production lines to produce over 1,000 exclusive products.

For example, Dyson will offer 70% of its Dyson Airwrap inventory to JD during 618. Some other promotions include a 60-inch 4K TV for less than RMB 2,000 yuan, a 55-inch 4K smart TV for RMB 1399 yuan, a Panasonic dishwasher for RMB 1899 yuan, and a new Midea air circulator for RMB 459 yuan – prices are significantly lower than usual.

JD has upgraded its service during 618 so that customers can enjoy a 30-day price protection policy for home appliances bought on JD’s first-party platform, and the option to replace a new home appliance with a quality problem within 180 days.

JD will also provide integrated delivery and installation service for TVs, and fast installation service for air conditioners.

JD will also offer RMB 300-600 yuan subsidies for people who trade in old air conditioners for new ones. It will provide a pre-sale video service to help guide consumers in the purchase of home appliances.

In addition, offline stores JD’s E-Space will participate in a 24-hour promotion on June 18th, providing customers with subsidies and discounts. JD’s over 12,000 home appliance experience stores will leverage livestreaming for marketing promotion, covering Hebei, Henan, Hunan and Guangdong provinces.

Data from JD Travel shows that sales of scenic area tickets on the first two days of 618 increased by 298%.

Sales of admission tickets for amusement parks rose by 437% on JD compared with the same period last year. Sales of suburban amusement tours increased by 153%, in which sales were up 300% in several scenic destinations areas in Beijing, Xinjiang, Yunnan, etc.

Hotel sales went up by 106% on JD, and hotel stay &entertainment package sales were 6 times more than the same period last year. Domestic flight tickets sales were up 172% while mobile payment services surpassed 427%.

JD Travel is part of JD’s Life & Services business group. Other services include automotive maintenance, online real estate purchase, online auction and fresh flowers booking.

With over 100,000 products from 30,000 well-known brands offered online which in turn activate over a million offline business, JD Life & Services is providing a variety of promotions during 618, many of which represent more than 50% discounts.

The growth of consumption of daily life services signifies the beginning of an overall economic recovery. JD Life & Services for consumers is playing an active role in integrating online and offline, and retail and services.

Check out 618 Shopping Festival: Taobao vs. JD

Huawei has ranked the top Chinese company in Boston Consulting Group’s Most Innovative Companies 2020 list, or the sixth globally, followed by Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi, and JD.

BCG research has shown that companies doubling down on innovation during downturns—using the opportunity to invest and position for the recovery—outperform over the long term.

Of the 162 companies that have been on BCG’s top 50 “most innovative companies” list over the past 14 years, nearly 30% appeared just once—and 57% appeared three times or fewer. Only 8 companies have made the list every year: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Samsung, and Toyota.

Only 20 Companies (12%) have made the Top 50 List more than 10 times: Daimler, Dell, Facebook, Siemens, Walmart, 3M, GE, Intel, Nike, P&G, BMW, Cisco, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Samsung, Toyota.

Five Chinese companies made it to the Top 50 Global Most Innovative Companies list, including Huawei (6), Alibaba (7), Tencent (14), Xiaomi (24), and JD (31).

While 60% of companies rank innovation as a top 3 priority, not all walk the talk, according to the BCG survey.

Top Mobile Apps in China

Jingdong (JD.com) is currently working with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation to develop a function to use Augmented Reality (AR) technology measure foot size, according to its official announcement.

The AR function will leverage Sony’s ToF (Time-of-Flight) distance measurement technology so that customers can simply use their mobile phones, equipped with a ToF camera, to measure their foot size by scanning the front and side angles of their feet.

JD launched a new AR feature on JD’s mobile app for online customers earlier this year to virtually try-on shoes. AR Shoes Try-on is now available for over 1,000 sneaker SKUs on JD.

JD are already offering several AR applications such as AR Fitting Room, AR Styling Station, and AR Shopping, which along with the new feature are open to its external partners through a PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) solution.

JD will further develop its AR offerings in more scenarios such as AR skin evaluation and AR live streaming. JD is among the five Chinese companies on BCG’s Top 50 Most Innovative Companies list in 2020, ranking 31st globally.

China mid-year 618 shopping festival: Taobao vs. JD

Fortune China recently released the Fortune 500 list for 2020, which takes into account the performance and achievements of the world’s largest listed Chinese companies in the past year.

This year, the total operating revenues of the 500 listed Chinese companies reached 50.5 trillion yuan, an increase of 11% over the previous year; and the net profit reached 4.2 trillion yuan, an increase of more than 16% compared with last year.

The annual revenue threshold of listed Chinese companies on Fortune 500 list this year is close to 17.8 billion yuan, which is nearly 10% higher than that of last year. Last year, China’s GDP exceeded 99 trillion yuan, which means that the total income of the 500 listed companies on the list is still more than half of China’s GDP in that year.

The top three companies in this year’s Fortune 500 list have not changed, with Sinopec, PetroChina and China State Construction Engineering (CSCEC).

Ping An Insurance of China ranks fourth and still ranks first among non-state-owned enterprises. Jingdong (JD.com) and Alibaba, two “Internet service and retail” enterprises, both ranked higher. Among them, JD rose to 13th place and Alibaba ranked 18th.

From the industry point of view, with the gradual profitability of some top Internet service companies, the net profit created by the industry on the list increased by more than 300% year-on-year.

2019 is the first year of “new infrastructure”, but because of its relatively low absolute proportion in fixed assets investment, “old infrastructure” still plays an indispensable role.

The total revenue of infrastructure, construction, power, construction machinery, port and logistics related industries in the Fortune 500 list of China’s “traditional infrastructure” reached 8.6 trillion yuan, 17.7% higher than the previous year’s 7.4 trillion yuan. This industry is still one of the important pillars of stable economic growth.

This year, there are 39 new and re-listed companies on Fortune China 500, of which Pinduoduo is on the list for the first time and ranks 321st with total revenue of 30.1 billion yuan.

Another new company worth mentioning in the Internet field is Joyy. This company, which mainly deals in live game broadcasting, is also on the list for the first time, and ranks 359th on the list with revenue of about 25.6 billion yuan.

In addition, the newly listed companies also include Grandjoy Holdings Group, which is engaged in real estate investment and management, and the “king of smartphones in Africa” Transsion.

In terms of profitability, the situation is the same as the previous year. In addition to several major commercial banks and insurance companies, the top 10 companies by net income are still Alibaba Group Holding Co., Ltd., China Mobile Co., Ltd. and Tencent Holding Co., Ltd.

The total profits of the ten companies last year were about 1.7 trillion yuan, nearly 40% of the total profits of the top 500 companies.

In 2019, 15 listed companies in Fortune 500 failed to make profits, with a total loss of about 80.7 billion yuan. Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Co., Ltd. ranks first in the loss list, with a loss of more than 45.8 billion yuan. iQiyi, the second-largest-loss company, lost 10.3 billion yuan.

Pinduoduo, which competes for users in the first and second-tier cities with low commodity prices, has a loss of more than 6.9 billion yuan in 2019, ranking third in the loss list.

Among all the listed companies, the real estate industry accounts for 4 of the top 10 companies with the highest ROE. Among them, Yanlord Land Group Co., Ltd. has an ROE of 43.5%. Netease was second by ROE. The agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and food and beverage industries have three seats in the Top Companies by ROE list, which are:

• Foshan Haitian seasoning Food Co., Ltd.
• Wenshi Food Group Co., Ltd.
• Guizhou Maotai Liquor Co., Ltd.

If you have CIW Premium subscription, visit this page for the full data including Chinese company name, revenues, and net income to copy or download in your preferred format.

Top 500 Companies in China

JD MRO, JD.com’s B2B subsidiary for industrial maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services, announced its acquisition of VIPMRO yesterday, China’s leading procurement platform for MRO products.

The acquisition gives JD access to VIPMRO’s over 100,000 offline retail stores.

MRO business covers over 10 million SKUs, many of which are long-tail and non-standard items. Through the strategic investment in VIPMRO, JD is able to speed up its development in the MRO industry while satisfying increasing demands from clients.

VIPMRO will be positioned as a sub-brand of JD MRO and provide its services to offline retail stores. Connecting with manufacturers will help JD build an even more comprehensive and smarter supply chain for MRO products.

In addition, through “Partner Store” plan, JD MRO will provide digital solutions for offline stores in the areas of product selection, transportation and delivery, installation and more, to improve their operation efficiency.

About VIPMRO

Within a few months after its launch in 2014, VIPMRO.com has successively reached strategic cooperation with dozens of well-known enterprises including ABB, Omron, Schneider and other global companies, becoming the first e-commerce platform for several industry-leading brands to cooperate in China, opening up a precedent for B2B e-commerce platform in the electrical field.

China B2B market status 2020; e-commerce revenue up 20%

Jingdong (JD.com)’s annual active customer accounts increased by 29.9% to 417.4 million in the twelve months ended June 30, 2020, from 321.3 million in the twelve months ended June 30, 2019. Mobile daily active users in June 2020 increased by 40% as compared to June 2019 according to its financial results.

JD HK IPO

On June 18, 2020, JD.com listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “9618”, with a global offering of 152,912,100 new Class A ordinary shares (including a partial exercise of the over-allotment option completed on July 15, 2020).

The Hong Kong-listed shares are fully fungible with JD.com’s American depositary shares (“ADSs”) listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, based on the ratio of two ordinary shares per ADS.

JD.com plans to use the net proceeds to invest in key supply chain-based technology initiatives to further enhance customer experience and improve operating efficiency.

JD acquired China’s leading procurement platform for MRO products

JD Retail

JD.com continued to attract premium global brands to its platform as a widely trusted retailing channel for high quality products.

In Q2 2020, brands including Prada’s high-end footwear brand Church’s, London based innovative luxury fashion label Christopher Kane, well-known British furniture design brand Tom Dixon, Italian luxury shoe brand Sergio Rossi, Korean high street apparel brand SJYP and affordable Japanese cosmetics and drug store Daikoku, all launched flagship stores on JD.com.

Live streaming continued to grow in popularity as a tool for suppliers and merchants to engage with customers.

Ms. Dong Mingzhu, Chairwoman of Gree Electronic Appliances, booked a record-breaking sale during a three-hour live stream show, featuring pre-sale customer education and product recommendations.

In order to diversify its user engagement channels and fully leverage its supply chain strengths, JD Retail announced a strategic partnership with Kwai, one of China’s leading short video platforms.

In April, JD Retail launched “Instant Delivery” services for mobile products, with the delivery of mobile phones in as fast as one hour through JD Daojia. The initiative applies its omnichannel strategies to more diversified categories and further improves customer experience.

The service currently covers selected authorized stores as well as other partners within JD.com’s omnichannel ecosystem.

Following the launch of its AR-based virtual shoe “try-on” service – the first for an e-commerce platform in China – JD Retail launched its AI-powered skin evaluation service in June, allowing users to upload images from their mobile phone for analysis and receive customized shopping guidance on suitable skincare and cosmetics products.

Over 10K FMCG brands sales 2x on JD in H1 2020; FMCG sales up 7% in June

JD Health

On August 17, 2020, JD Health, a subsidiary of JD.com, entered into a definitive agreement with Hillhouse Capital for its non-redeemable series B preference share financing. The total amount expected to be raised from Hillhouse Capital is over US$830 million.

JD.com will remain the majority shareholder of JD Health after the completion of this transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions. The closing is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2020.

Hillhouse Capital is a leading investment management company that has established a comprehensive ecosystem in the healthcare sector in China. By leveraging Hillhouse Capital’s industry expertise and resources, JD Health will further strengthen its pharmacy supply chain capabilities and explore additional healthcare services opportunities in the broader healthcare sector.

In June, JD Health unveiled its Traditional Chinese Medicine Consultation Center and Intelligent Otorhinolaryngology Services Center, each bringing together the country’s top specialists and providing online consultations and disease management programs for patients nationwide.

With the addition of these two centers, the specialized virtual medical treatment centers within the JD Health app cover areas including heart disease, mental health, diabetes, kidney disease, pediatrics, oncology and maternity, among others.

JD Logistics

In the second quarter, JD Logistics launched a new Asia No.1 warehouse in Langfang, Hebei province, near Beijing, equipped with the first automated storage and retrieval system for bulky items in Asia’s e-commerce industry, greatly improving efficiency in handling items including air conditioners, refrigerators, and furniture.

Thanks to its continuous focus on technology innovation, JD Logistics maintained fast delivery standards during the June 18 Anniversary Sale as orders surged to record highs, ensuring that 91% of packages from its direct sales platforms arrived at consumers’ doorsteps same or next day throughout China.

As of June 30, 2020, JD Logistics operated over 750 warehouses, which covered an aggregate gross floor area of approximately 18 million square meters, including warehouse space managed under the JD Logistics Open Warehouse Platform.

Dada Group, one of JD.com’s important ecosystem partners, listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker “DADA” on June 5, 2020. Upon its initial public offering (IPO), JD.com purchased additional shares as a cornerstone investor. As of June 30, 2020, JD.com is the largest shareholder of Dada Group with a 47.9% stake.

JD.com has formed an extensive cooperation relationship with Dada, as its local on-demand delivery and retail capabilities support JD.com’s innovative projects and omnichannel strategy.

JD.com Financial Results

Net revenues for the second quarter of 2020 were RMB201.1 billion (US$1 28.5 billion), an increase of 33.8% from the second quarter of 2019. Net revenues from the sales of general merchandise products for the second quarter of 2020 were RMB64.0 billion (US$9.1 billion), an increase of 45.4% from the second quarter of 2019.

Net service revenues for the second quarter of 2020 were RMB22.9 billion (US$3.2 billion), an increase of 36.4% from the second quarter of 2019.

Income from operations for the second quarter of 2020 was RMB5.0 billion (US$0.7 billion), compared to RMB2.3 billion for the same period last year. Non-GAAP2 income from operations for the second quarter of 2020 was RMB5.6 billion (US$0.8 billion) with a non-GAAP operating margin of 2.8%, as compared to RMB3.2 billion for the second quarter of 2019 with a non-GAAP operating margin of 2.1%.

Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2020 was RMB16.4 billion (US$2.3 billion), compared to RMB0.6 billion for the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ordinary shareholders for the second quarter of 2020 increased by 66.1% to RMB5.9 billion (US$0.8 billion) from RMB3.6 billion for the same period last year.

Diluted net income per ADS for the second quarter of 2020 was RMB10.47 (US$1.48), compared to RMB0.36 for the second quarter of 2019. Non-GAAP diluted net income per ADS for the second quarter of 2020 was RMB3.51 (US$0.50), compared to RMB2.30 for the same period last year.

JD Worldwide saw 50% growth in total female shoppers in H1 2020; sales up 70%

Alibaba Taobao kicked off its Double Eleven Global Shopping Festival (“Double 11”), the largest annual shopping festival in China, on 21 October 2020 with new innovations and features to meet rapidly changing consumer trends.

These include the participation of Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform; broader consumer reach and bigger promotions, “double” the number of shopping windows that will spotlight more brands, products and special offers, and the popular live streaming technology creating more fun and engagement for Chinese consumers with the largest international presence to date.

For many brands, Double 11 is the single biggest growth driver every year and this year will be no exception. Check out Double 11 2019 performance.

Read our guide on Double 11 here.

Deepening Engagement to Create “Double” Opportunities

This year the Taobao/Tmall Double 11 Festival expands the concept from “single” to “double,” enabling merchants to double up on promoting their products to consumers across China not just once, but twice, according to Alibaba’s official announcement.

A new sales window will be added from November 1 to 3 on Taobao/Tmall platforms, ahead of the main event on November 11, with the aim of providing merchants, specifically new brands and small businesses, the opportunity to showcase their products and tell their brand stories amid the pandemic.

Double 11 has become one of the most important new product launch events of the year for many brands. This year, more than 2 million new products will be introduced, which is double the amount compared to last year.

Double 11 will be offering more opportunities for merchants both online and offline to engage with consumers as well as provide a better consumer experience overall.

This year’s Taobao Double 11 experience will also be enhanced by Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform, which brings together nearly 2 million local service providers offering special promotions in more than 100 cities.

Offline small- and micro-merchants across China, such as street stalls and neighborhood grocery stores, will be able to participate in the excitement of Double 11 by connecting with consumers through Alipay’s digital lifestyle platform.

Big Growth Driver for Participating Brands

Alibaba launched Spring Thunder Initiative early this year as a continuous effort on merchants empowerment and Double 11 is yet another milestone to help merchants regain growth.

This year’s Taobao Double 11 Festival will feature 14 million value-for-money products from more than 250,000 brands available on Tmall.

Also, to cater for the needs of customers in lower-tier cities, Taobao Deals’ “RMB1 Sales” campaign will enable consumers to purchase goods at huge discounts with free shipping.

To meet Chinese consumers’ increasing demand for international products, Tmall Global will bring more than 2,600 new overseas brands to Chinese consumers for the first time. Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform Kaola will also join Double 11 for the first time, featuring products from 89 countries and regions.

Live streaming and Logistics Core to the Event

Live streaming is expected to take the center stage of this year’s Taobao/Tmall Double 11.

In addition to sessions hosted by top live streamers, about 400 company executives and 300 celebrities will also hold individual live streaming sessions. Taobao Live will offer sessions ranging from cosmetics, electronics, to cars and houses.

New features like online property viewings and virtual vehicle test drives will provide a more realistic and engaging experience to help consumers with their buying decisions. Alibaba’s DAMO Academy will use artificial intelligence technology to create its first virtual live streaming host while Fliggy will host travel-related live streams.

This year’s event will have the largest international presence since it was founded in 2009.

AliExpress now sells to more than 200 countries and regions worldwide. Lazada was the first to bring the shopping festival concept to Southeast Asia across six markets – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Shopping festivals such as Double 11 have also become one of the key industry growth drivers as local small-and-medium businesses participate in this biggest event alongside LazMall, the region’s largest online mall with more than 18,000 local and international brands.

This year Lazada will continue its “shoppertainment” features ranging from live streaming to new consumer games and innovations such as voice search to find items.

Alibaba’s robust technology and logistics infrastructure is the backbone of the Double 11 Shopping Festival. Cainiao will charter approximately 700 flights during Double 11. More than 50% of this year’s cross-border parcels are expected to be delivered twice as fast as its usual speed.

JD Double 11

JD also kicked off its Double 11 2020 campaign on 21 October 2020. JD is expected to be the first choice of consumers buying 3C products (mostly computer, consumer electronics, and communication products) in this year’s Singles Day promotion, according to Nielsen.

Come back soon; we’ll update with the latest information on Double 11. You can subscribe to e-newsletter or paid subscription. 

Dossier: Double 11

How JD penetrates lower-tier cities with social e-commerce initiative

Alibaba Tmall kicks off 2021’s 618 Shopping Festival on 24 May. This year’s pre-sale activities are obviously ahead of schedule. The balance will be paid on June 1, and the discount will last for 20 days.

There are some new “situations” in this year’s 618 festival.

On the one hand, 618 has become an important opportunity for online shopping of high value and large commodities; on the other hand, it’s also a good time for families to stock up, including the sales of home appliances, 3C, food, beauty products, and etc, which will reach the peak in the first half of the year during 618.

At the same time, many big brands lead the promotion activities, and the promotion discounts also attract many new consumers.

Smart and high-quality differentiated products have become the hot spots trends in the field of home appliances, driven by promotions from both home appliance brands and major e-commerce platforms.

Get an introduction of 618 Shopping Festival here.

80% of the enterprises, surveyed by Chinese media Yibang, participated in Tmall 618, more than half of them invested more than 30% of the 618 budget in Tmall, and 40% of the enterprises surveyed expected that more than half of the 618 sales would come from Tmall.

50% of the enterprises interviewed said that in the past year, Tmall had the highest conversion among all platforms.

CIW Dossier: 618 Shopping Festival provides a perspective of the merchants regarding the performance, advertising budget, and sales expectations on the top e-commerce platforms for 618 shopping festival.

Update (21 June 2021): During this year’s “618” (June 1-20), the State Post Bureau observed more than 6.59 billion pieces of parcels, a year-on-year increase of 24.24%, and an increase of 84.16% compared with the same period in 2019.

Alibaba Tmall 618

Over 67% consider Tmall as the top platform for 618.

Among the enterprises surveyed, 51% invested more than 30% of their budgets in tmall. Among them, 10.6% of enterprises allocate more than 80% of the ad budget on the Tmall platform; most allocate 30% to 50% of their total 618 budget on Tmall.

Tmall is giving away RMB10 billion (US$1.57 billion) in consumer coupons and subsidies to help further stimulate post-Covid consumption during Tmall 618 Festival 2021.

According to the official introduction of Tmall, huge discounts will be launched from June 1 to June 20. The specific activities are as follows:

• 20 yuan off every 300 yuan purchase with a total subsidy of 10 billion yuan
• 88vip members will receive additional 520 yuan
• Beauty products at flagship stores are cheaper than duty-free stores

A total of 250,000 brands participate in this year’s Tmall 618, which is 2.5 times that of last year. A total of 13 million products participate in offering discounts, of which 1.4 million are new products.

Tmall merchants almost all started the official live streaming for this year’s 618 shopping festival. About 100 celebrities have locked in Taobao Live to interact with fans. More than 500 CEOs have already made time for Tmall 618 in the agenda to face consumers and offer more brand discounts.

For more established brands, this year’s 618 festival is all about membership engagement. Shoppers who have signed up their favorite brands’ membership on Tmall can expect more additional benefits.

Tmall 618 sales

Millions of loyalty-program members on Tmall helped drive sales for 25 brands, which had each exceeded RMB100 million in transactions on June 1.

As of June 16, brand merchants have acquired nearly 60 million new members during Tmall 618, and some saw more than 50% of the transactions come from members. On June 1 alone, the first day of Tmall 618, there were 25 brands with a turnover of over 100 million yuan from members.

Since the beginning of this year, Tmall has strengthened its membership operation. The exclusive rights and benefits of brand members will be revealed many times in the search results and commodity display pagse, and various tools such as exclusive rights and benefits of members and member interaction are also provided for merchants.

About 20 brand merchants exceeded 10 million member milestone on Tmall.

Tmall Hey Box: Alibaba’s best seller incubator for top brands

JD.com 618

Jingdong announced it will focus on live streaming, short videos, graphics, and quiz to enrich its content marketing for the ongoing 618 Grand Promotion at a kick-off event on May 20 in Beijing.

JD.com will invite more than 300 celebrities, and executives from nearly 600 brand partners to participate in various promotions through live streaming during the promotion.

The company will also invite KOLs and celebrities to create short videos to assist promotion. More than 1,000 professional buyers or KOLs from different categories will be invited to share their favorite products to drive more traffic to JD.com.

JD will hold two galas through live streaming inviting celebrities to bring consumers the festive atmosphere of 618. Leveraging JD and WeChat’s strength, JD will offer live streaming through 10 WeChat accounts.

Over 30,000 new brands and stores were launched during 618 on JD Super, JD’s online supermarket, with over 2.4 million new products.

Shoppers in Nanjing, Jiangsu province are the most active, taking the crown for the largest order volume.

Group buying is most used in Harbin. The average amount per group buy order in the chilly capital of Heilongjiang province in Northeast China this year exceeds RMB 1,000 yuan.

Other top competitors for 618 include Kuaishou, Douyin (TikTok), Pinduoduo, and Meituan.

JD & Douyin (TikTok)

JD signed a 20 billion yuan collaboration agreement with Douyin (TikTok). And, JD’s products are integrated on Douyin in this year’s 618 festival and users can buy JD products on Douyin directly without being redirected to an external page.

JD 618 Sales

In the first three minutes on Jun. 18, JD Super, JD’s online supermarket, saw sales increase 10 times, and in the first two minutes, packaged foods exceeded RMB 300 million yuan while the maternal and baby category exceeded RMB 200 million yuan.

In the first hour on Jun. 18, JD Fresh saw sales increase 70% YOY. Looking at sub-categories, seafood, meat, eggs and poultry, and fruit and vegetables increased 160%, 105% and 80% respectively. Sales of food which require little effort to prepare increased 160%.

JD.com reported a total transaction of over RMB 343.8 billion yuan for its 18-day 618 shopping festival 2021, representing a growth of 27.7% YoY from the same period in 2020 (RMB 269.2 billion yuan).

The pet category has boomed. Post-90s consumers spent an average of RMB 507 yuan per month on pet products in 2021. During 618, smart pet products increased 47% YOY.

Luxury products. Sales of Ferragamo, TOD’s, and BALLY increased 150%, 232% and 600% respectively. In addition, over 20 designer brands saw sales increase over 15 times YoY on JD platform. Consumers continue to embrace the convenience of buying luxury products online.

Sales of imported gaming phones on JD Worldwide increased by nearly three times. Imported dry cat food increased by 108%.

During the 18-day promotion, sales of JD’s online real estate business increased 230% YOY. Sales of housekeeping and cleaning services increased 6.3 times while the order number of car maintenance increased 285%.

Genetic testing service sales increased 23 times, making it the fastest-growing category of healthcare services on Jingdong. Oral health product sales increased 447%.

The top five international brands are Aptamil from Germany, Estee Lauder from the U.S., A2 from Australia, Nintendo from Japan, and Sulwhasoo from Korea. In the fresh food category, 5 million Zespri kiwis and 260,000 durians from Thailand were sold during the 18-day sale.

Social e-commerce Pinduoduo’s road to brand upgrade

618 Sales performance of other brands and platforms

Xiaomi 618

From June 1 to 18, the total GMV across all Xiaomi’s platforms exceeded 19 billion yuan (US$29.37 bn), with a year-on-year growth of 90%.

Its sales volume of smartphones ranked first among all Android phones, the TV category won first place in the sales volume / sales values. Xiaomi 11 Pro is the best selling model on both JD and Tmall.

Xiaomi’s offline sales channels saw 123% YoY increase in total transaction values. Live streaming delivered 1.34 billion yuan in total sales, an 92% growth YoY.

Douyin (TikTok) 618

Douyin 618 started on June 1st and ended at 8 a.m. on June 19th. The top 5 best-selling brands are:

1. Chuchu (new brand)
2. WHOO
3. China Gold
4. Shepinhui
5. Huawei

Apple ranks sixth overall or second after Huawei under “3C electronics” category.

The top five are expected to have sales of more than 100 million yuan. Unfortunately, Apple, Adidas, Nike, and other international brands are not expected to exceed 100 million yuan in sales on Douyin, according to Chinese media Yibang Dongli.

Douyin saw the largest new user growth of over 392% YoY among post-00s, followed by post-90s (+225.9% YoY).

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Social e-commerce Pinduoduo’s road to brand upgrade

In a landmark move to cater to the growing online purchasing demands of international consumers for “Made in China” goods, JD Pay has recently pioneered a new cross-border e-commerce export payment gateway model.

This innovative approach allows overseas shoppers to make purchases on China’s cross-border e-commerce export platforms by simply entering their foreign bank card information to complete payments.

This significant development in the acceptance of foreign payments marks a major stride in facilitating international consumer spending, simultaneously propelling Chinese export businesses to achieve global sales from their domestic bases, thereby fostering a new development pattern that promotes the mutual reinforcement of domestic and international economic cycles.

The chasm in cross-border e-commerce exports has long been a hurdle. With China’s export e-commerce rapidly evolving and becoming a new engine for high-quality foreign trade development, the sector saw a 19.6% increase in total exports, reaching 1.83 trillion yuan in 2023, according to estimates from customs data.

The Central Economic Work Conference in December 2023 emphasized expanding high-level opening up, accelerating the cultivation of new foreign trade momentum, and expanding trade in intermediate goods, service trade, digital trade, and cross-border e-commerce exports.

The payment aspect of cross-border e-commerce exports, a critical link connecting supply and demand, faces inherent “chasms” due to regulatory requirements for cross-border information and fund transfers, as well as differences in currency types, payment tools, and habits.

This has led to numerous Chinese export enterprises facing penalties on foreign platforms, frozen funds, and extended payment cycles due to a lack of understanding of cross-border payments.

JD Pay has introduced this new model under the guidance of the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Leveraging JD’s comprehensive e-commerce ecosystem, the model was developed in collaboration with clearing organizations and financial institutions, focusing on cross-border payment pain points.

It addresses compliance issues, ensuring smooth funds transfer for merchants on China’s cross-border e-commerce export platforms. Furthermore, it lowers the shopping barriers for overseas consumers, who can now pay with their international bank cards without needing currency conversion or a Chinese bank account.

Currently operational on JD Global, this new model serves Chinese mainland merchants and overseas consumers.

Going forward, JD Pay aims to further refine its cross-border payment services in close collaboration with clearing organizations and financial institutions, enhancing the payment experience and services for more cross-border e-commerce platforms and independent sites, benefiting both international consumers and Chinese export enterprises.