"Consumer Sentiment Barometer" Shows Signs of Revival for China's 6·18 Shopping Festival

Promotion Event Started on the 30th of Last Month
Strong Sales in Early Stage... "Proof of Recovery in Consumption and Manufacturing"

The large-scale e-commerce festival, which serves as a barometer of Chinese consumer sentiment, is showing signs of revival. Although it had underperformed due to the impact of COVID-19, this year has seen a rapid recovery in sales from the early stages of the event.

According to the state-run Global Times (GT) on the 1st, major e-commerce platforms such as JD.com and Alibaba's Taobao Mall recently launched the '6·18 Shopping Festival' event and are showing strong sales. JD.com started its promotional event at 8 p.m. on the 30th, announcing that major brands like Media, Haier, Xiaomi, and Apple each achieved sales of 100 million yuan (approximately 18.5 billion KRW) within minutes. They also reported that the number of brands surpassing 100 million yuan in sales within 10 minutes increased by 23% compared to last year.

Sales of new energy vehicles through JD.com increased by 200% compared to last year within the first 10 minutes of the promotion, and sales of vehicle charging equipment surged 30-fold during the same period. GT evaluated this as "evidence that China's consumption and manufacturing activities are recovering."

The 6·18 Shopping Festival is a large-scale discount event held by JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company, to coincide with its founding anniversary on June 18. It is considered one of the two major shopping events alongside Alibaba-led Singles' Day held every November 11. This year, JD.com is actively promoting the event by expanding discounts and product categories in celebration of its 20th anniversary. Competitors are also launching events to capitalize on the shopping season.

Retailer Suning.com is also riding the festival wave by conducting discount events recently. According to the state-run Global Times, retail sales at its offline stores nationwide surged 147% year-on-year from the 24th to the 30th. Notably, air conditioner sales skyrocketed by 684% compared to last year.

Alibaba's e-commerce platform Tmall's official Apple online store is offering discount coupons from the 30th through the 3rd. The live streaming event held on the first day, the 30th, attracted 1.28 million viewers within an hour, drawing significant attention. Xiaomi also held a promotional event on the 30th, recording sales of 1 billion yuan within 13 minutes. During the four-hour event, sales reached 4.1 billion yuan.