The Transaction Values of China’s “618” Shopping Gala Hit a New High

“618” is a Chinese shopping carnival in a similar vein as Alibaba’s 11.11 festival or Black Friday in the US, in which China’s major ecommerce platforms offer reductions and promotional offers. Different from last year, this year’s activity started on 1^st June and lasted for 18 days. According to Syntun data ^[1], the GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) of 50 major e-commerce platforms hit 318 billion RMB during the promotional period, representing a year-on-year growth of 11.8% and surpassing the daily transaction value of the 2018 “11.11”.

As the initiator of this shopping extravaganza, JD topped the sales list, clocking in an impressive GMV of 201.5 billion RMB.

Sales of Dairy Surge

As revealed by JD data ^[2], dairy products were No.2 in terms of overall sales. On Tmall Global, 2000 boxes of Devondale full fat milk imported from Australia were sold out in 10 minutes on Jun. 16, and the sales of A2 milk powder during the first 30 minutes increased by 300% compared to 2018 ^[3].

In the infant formula segment of the dairy sector, sales were driven by the strong performance of stage 3 formula (for 1 year to 3 year old infants) which itself was fueled by larger reductions and better promotional incentives. The strongest performing infant formula brands during 6.18 were Wyeth (#1) followed by Friso, Aptamil, Mead Johnson, and Abbott.

Health Food Performing Well

In the first hour of Jun. 18, the GMV of imported health food grew by 246% on Tmall Global, and its sales on JD even rose by 320%. In the first 10 minutes of the first hour of June 1st, Swisse’s sales increased by 161%.

This shopping frenzy is also regarded as an opportunity by overseas manufacturers to bring new types of health food to the market. British Myprotein, Frech Biocyte, Canadian Herbaland, American Vitafusion have all introduced a diversified portfolio of products such as soft candies, beverages and other innovative value added nutritionals.

Fresh fruits are in great demand

According to JD data, the sales volume of fruit amounted to 1058 tons on the first day of the shopping carnival. High-end fruits are extremely popular among Chinese consumers living in first and second tier cities:

• The accumulated sale value of Zespri kiwi hit 100 million RMB on JD platform, and this goal is achieved 3 months earlier compared with the last year

• On Jun. 16, GMV of cherries increased by 139% on Tmall

It is the first time that cherries imported from Uzbekistan were involved in 6.18. Despite this Uzbek cherries recorded staggering sales, with over 4700 batches sold within 3 hours after their launch on Tmall. It is said that nearly half of the civil aviation capacity in Uzbekistan was used to ensure the cherry supply on 618 shopping festival.

2 new trends for China’s shopping festival

“Niche countries” show explosive growth
Tmall 618 once again proved to be the best growth opportunity for overseas brands in the first half of the year. Some European “niche countries” showed explosive growth and the traditional export powers (USA, Japan, South Korea, and Australia) remained strong. Here are the Top 10 countries ranked in order of growth rate within the 1st hour of the 6.18 festival:
A new marketing strategy has appeared: Live selling
Imagine an infomercial but instead it’s a live video feed introducing products, promotions and special offers. Taobao Live is another function provided by Tmall. At the beginning of 618, hundreds of KOLs started to broadcast online to recommend products to their fans. And viewers can directly make orders in their online studio. Food KOL Tao lady Demi sold 1.5 tons of lobsterling in 1 minute.
Live selling has become the most direct and also one of the most important ways to connect with consumers for many brands. And the cooperation with KOLs also promotes the sale of their products to a huge extent.