BEIJING (Reuters)

China’s largest mid-year shopping festival, 618, ended on Wednesday (June 18) with record sales, though daily spending dropped amid an extended sales period aimed at enticing consumers to part with more of their hard-earned money.

The longer sales period helped the combined gross merchandise value (GMV), a business metric commonly used in e-commerce, reach an all-time high of ¥855.6 billion (US$119 billion), according to retail data provider Syntun. That was 15.2 per cent higher than the prior year’s ¥742.8 billion.

The festival, originally a single-day event celebrating JD.com’s founding on June 18, has evolved into a month-long affair spanning all major e-commerce platforms.

This year’s pre-sales began on May 13, a week longer than in 2024, leading to lower average daily spending of ¥2.31 billion, compared with ¥2.48 billion last year, according to Reuters calculations.

Alibaba Group’s Tmall kept its top position on sales, the data showed, followed by JD.com, ByteDance’s Douyin and Pinduoduo Holdings’ Pinduoduo. Syntun did not provide sales figures for each platform.

Despite the upbeat figures, the world’s second-largest economy’s retail sector continues to struggle due to concerns over employment stability, stalled wage growth and the ongoing property crisis.

Retailers and the government have sought to lift subdued spending by deepening discounts and expanding consumer subsidies but analysts say longer festivals and year-round discounts have dampened excitement for these kinds of events. 

“I don’t have anything special to buy during the 618 shopping festival. Because there are always great deals, I can buy whatever I need whenever,” said Xu Binqi, who works in Beijing’s film industry. “Take skincare products as an example, I buy them whenever I run out, and the prices are no higher than during the 618 festival.”

Rachel Lee, general manager of market research firm Worldpanel China and co-author of Bain & Co.’s recent China Shopper Report, said that when consumers are budget-conscious, they seek affordable alternatives, and discounts play a lesser role. 

“Standalone promotional discounts will find it increasingly difficult to drive volume growth,” she said.

This year, JD.com said the number of users placing orders for the 618 event more than doubled year-on-year, with over 2.2 billion orders across its online, offline and food delivery platforms.

Alibaba said that 453 brands surpassed ¥100 million in GMV over the 618 period.

Brands that surpassed ¥1 billion in GMV included Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei, Nike, Adidas, L’Oréal and Lululemon, Alibaba added.

RETAIL GROWTH, SUBSIDY IMPACT

While the retail environment in China remains difficult, there are signs that consumption overall has picked up in recent months. Retail sales growth surpassed expectations in May, with official data showing a 6.4 per cent increase, the fastest growth since December 2023. 

Analysts pointed to the earlier start of 618, along with government consumer subsidies for goods such as home appliances and mobile phones, as twin drivers.

Jacob Cooke, co-founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, said the extended 618 festival front-loaded consumer demand, encouraging earlier spending and smoothing consumption trends into May. 

“A longer 618 festival with low prices helps sustain engagement across weeks and has contributed materially to May’s strong retail performance,” Cooke said.

Analysts warn that a pause in subsidy programmes in several regions, as central government allocations dry up, could weigh on 618 sales and overall consumption this month, though more funds are likely to be allocated for those programmes in July.

“Rapid sales growth of key subsidy categories (such as home appliances) driven by the 618 shopping festival starting from May…have quickly depleted funds,” HSBC analysts wrote in a note.

Eve Wang, 32, reflected on the shift in spending habits: “In the past, for example during events like Singles’ Day and 618, I used to spend a lot of money on stockpiling goods, but now … I only buy what I need.”