The 18th of June was the 6.18 Shopping Festival in China, known as the crucial business opportunity for all e-commerce platforms, occurring from 1st of June to 18th of June.

6.18 was first created by JD.com in 2004 but the event has been spread by other major e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, Taobao, Pinduoduo…

Although Tmall’s turnover was higher in 2020 (698.2 billion yuan) than this year’s (578.5 billion RMB), the results post Covid-19 are still impressive. On the contrary, JD.com raised its total revenues (269.2 billion RMB in 2020 against 343.8 billion RMB in 2021).

Tmall campaign for 6.18 Shopping Festival

Technology and Food on the rise on JD.com

According to the sales data of JD.com, this year, the high volumes of purchases were dedicated to :

Technology :

🔶 Gaming mobile phones (increased by 5 times year-on-year)

🔶 High-end notebook computers (increased by 145% year-on-year)

🔶 Giant screen TVs over 75 inches (increased by over 300% year-on-year)

🔶 Air conditioners (increased by 7.2 times year-on-year)

🔶 Intelligent noise reduction earphones (increased by 300% year-on-year)

According to JD’s big data, a total of 236 brands have sold more than 100 million yuan, including 73% of Chinese brands.

Food :

🔶 Organic food sales (increased by 315% year-on-year)

🔶 Mystery box sales (increased by 6 times year-on-year)

🔶 Pet smart products (increased by 5 times year-on-year) –> our article about Pet Economy here

🔶 Health products such as melanin, vitamins, and probiotics have increased as well

By the way, international products from all over the world have had a good showing as well. For example, transaction volume of imported products increased 10 times compared with the previous period. JD Worldwide imported gaming phones increased nearly three times and imported dry cat food increased 108%.

Strong Logistics and Supply Chain efficiency

JD.com attested that consumers in 92% of districts and counties and 84% of townships in China enjoyed the high-efficiency experience of “D-day delivery” (当日达) and “next-day delivery” (次日达). In addition to the large-scale and time-efficient service reach, this year, the pre-sale model innovation has again increased, covering more categories and more regions. 

Consumers in more than 200 cities across the country can experience it right after paying by choosing the “minutes delivery service” (分钟达) that is faster than usual. On-demand consumption has been solidified as a shopping trend in China. The experience of receiving orders in one-hour has brought the customer experience to a new level.

JD.com’s autonomous delivery vehicles

In the context of the rapid increase in the volume of large-scale business orders, the national average daily order volume forecast accuracy rate exceeded 95.5%. In addition, JD’s smart supply chain makes more than 400,000 supply chain smart decisions every day, including replenishment, allocation, etc…

Live Streaming was the best sales tunnel

64.5 billion RMB is the total sales of e-commerce by live streaming, led by the well-known Chinese KOL Austin Li, Viya and Cherie.

Li Jiaqi 李佳琦, Viya 薇娅 and Cherie 雪梨

On Tmall, the turnover generated via live streaming sessions in the first hour of 1st of June was the equivalent to last year’s average daily turnover.

Besides, the turnover of more than 1,700 brands exceeded the entire day of the same period last year.

Being part of big shopping festivals in China are not just about selling products, but also a big opportunity to build long-term growth. See our article about the future of retail here.

The Future Upcoming Festivals

📅 Qixi Festival : 14th of August

📅 Mid-Autumn Festival : 21st of September

📅 Single’s Day : 11th of November