This year 618 is of major importance in China as a metric to gauge economic health and an indicator of consumer confidence during a global pandemic. All e-commerce platforms have prepared for this promotion campaign, and the media have been building public interest.
This year’s 618 shopping festival will last for about a month. Tmall started pre-sale on May 25, and the official sale began on June 1 and will last until June 20. JD began its marketing campaign on May 21, began its pre-sale on May 29, and will wrap up on June 21.
The whole battlefield has six main competitors. Four are established e-commerce platforms, including Tmall(Taobao), JD, Pinduoduo, and Suning, while two are emerging social media e-commerce platforms, Douyin, and Kuaishou. The growth of live streaming e-commerce has enabled Douyin and Kuaishou to quickly grow up and compete with the larger players.
Platforms are also promoting new selling points to gain more traction. Tmall is going to cooperate with different governments and will distribute 10 billion yuan in discounts/coupons. JD claims this shopping festival will be the most convenient one with the biggest discounts. (Consumers often complain about the rules to get discounts or use coupons are too difficult). Suning will implement its "J-10%" plan, which promises 10% lower prices than JD's price on electronic devices, such as household appliances, mobile phones, and laptops [1].
What are the differences this year?
- Live stream
Livestream e-commerce is expected to be a major driver of sales in 618 2020. According to the source, more than 600 CEOs are going to join Taobao live-stream during the 618, including the CEO of Huawei, the CEO of L’ Oreal, the CEO of Lenovo, etc. [2]. Meanwhile, Tmall invited more than 300 celebrities to join the live stream [3]. These celebrities include actors & actresses, entertainers, sports stars, etc. Taobao launched a reality show called “Here Comes Hot Products," in which four stars select promoters to market quality products. Fresh, a cosmetic brand, used this reality show to make one of its products go viral on social media.
Other platforms don’t want to be outdone, JD has also invited celebrities, and plans to open 300,000 live-streams, and holds live-streaming concerts. Kuaishou is going to promote 11 different types of live streams. Suning plans to invite all store owners to do livestreams and give away 2 billion yuan worth of coupons during its Livestream. These store owners have professional knowledge about products they are selling and know the needs of their customers. Therefore, they are perfect live streamers to sell products.
Taobao's Celebrities’ live stream calendar
JD's Celebrities’ live stream calendar
- More overseas merchants and brands
The governments of nine countries, including Russia, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, all opened a Tmall national flagship store. They also joined the “Tmall National Expo” to sell their national products. The Thai government’s domestic store on Tmall mainly sells seasonal fruits such as durian, longan, and mangosteen. On May 15, Thailand also opened a special train line between China and Thailand, allowing easier transport of seasonal fresh food from Thailand to China [4].
Another CBEC (Cross-border e-commerce) platform, Kaola, also have welcomed the entry of about 1000 brands from 21 countries just before 618. On May 27, Kaola held the largest online merchant conference of the year to help overseas merchants in different industries, including beauty and personal care, pets, mothers and infants, digital home appliances, medicine and health, food and fresh food, and home improvement[5].
Poster about Thailand’s special fruit train
Pre-sale result
Until May 28, only Tmall released the results of pre-sale. One hour after the pre-sale, the turnover increased by 515% YoY. The turnover of the beauty segment exceeded 500 million in 7 minutes. Within two hours of the pre-sale, the turnover of Lancome, L'Oreal, and Whoo exceeded 100 million. In the first hour of the pre-sale, the sales of 27 brands including, Origins and Givenchy, exceeded the sales of a whole 24 hour period on the same day last year [6].
ChemLinked will keep updating the latest news about 618. Stay tuned for the latest information.
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