Daily spending dips, but China's 618 shopping fest sets record with all-time high sales
Reuters A JD.com advertisement for the "618" shopping festival displayed at a shopping mall in Beijing, China (File Photo)
China's largest mid-year shopping festival, 618, ended on Wednesday 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 yuan ($119 billion), according to retail data provider Syntun. That was 15.2% higher than the prior year's 742.8 billion yuan.
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 yuan, compared with 2.48 billion yuan 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 yuan in GMV over the 618 period.
Brands that surpassed 1 billion yuan in GMV included Apple , Xiaomi, Huawei, Nike, Adidas, L'Oreal and Lululemon, Alibaba added.
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% 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." ($1 = 7.1910 Chinese yuan)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Dollar set to finish week on upbeat note buoyed by safe-haven appeal
(Reuters) -The dollar was set to log its biggest weekly rise in over a month on Friday, as uncertainties about a raging war in the Middle East and the repercussions it could have on the global economy fuelled an appetite for traditional safe havens. The dollar index comparing the U.S. currency against six others is poised for a 0.5% climb this week. The conflict between Israel and Iran shows no signs of subsiding and market participants are nervous about potential U.S. intervention in the region. The two countries have been in a week-long air battle as Tel Aviv seeks to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions and cripple the domestic government. The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump will make a decision within the next two weeks about whether to join Israel in the war. The resultant recent spike in oil prices added a new layer of inflation uncertainty for central banks across regions which have been grappling with the potential repercussions of U.S. tariffs on their economies. "Rising oil prices introduce inflation uncertainty at a time when growth is weakening," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo. "That makes central banks' jobs much harder — do they ease to support growth or hold back to avoid fueling inflation? Most seem to be prioritizing growth concerns for now, assuming that crude gains may not be sustained." In early Asia trading, the euro inched up 0.16% to $1.151, while the dollar weakened against the yen by 0.17% to 145.23 per dollar. Also underpinning the yen's gains was hotter-than-expected inflation data that kept expectations for upcoming interest rate hikes alive. Furthermore, minutes from the Bank of Japan's policy meet this week showed policymakers agreed on the need to keep raising rates that are still at very low levels. The Swiss franc was flat at 0.816 per dollar on Friday but was set for its largest weekly drop since mid-April after the country's central bank lowered borrowing costs. Swiss rates now stand at 0%. Currencies positively correlated to risk sentiment such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars were steady, while sterling was little changed at $1.34. Although the Federal Reserve earlier this week stuck with its forecast of two interest rate cuts this year, Chair Jerome Powell cautioned against giving that view too much weight. Analysts saw the central bank's delivery as a 'hawkish tilt' further underpinning the greenback's gains this week. Investors were, however, taken aback by an unexpected 25 basis point interest rate cut by Norges bank and the krone is down by more than 1% against the dollar this week. Though geopolitical tensions were the main market focus this week, concerns about tariffs and the impact they may have on costs, corporate margins and overall growth are ever-present. These concerns have weighed on the dollar, which is down about 9% this year. Trump's early July tariff deadline looms and sources said that European officials are increasingly resigned to a 10% rate on "reciprocal" tariffs being the baseline in any trade deal between the U.S. and the EU. Elsewhere, the offshore yuan was little changed at 7.185 after China kept benchmark lending rates unchanged as expected. (Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Indian markets set for muted open as Middle East tensions spur caution
June 20 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks are poised for a subdued start on Friday, in line with broader Asian markets, as escalating tensions between Israel and Iran continue to rattle global investor sentiment. The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,777.5, as of 7:46 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open near the previous close of 24,793.25. Both the Nifty and Sensex indexes ended flat in the previous session, while the broader markets fell on risk-aversion mode. Asian peers opened subdued on Friday after reports that Israel had bombed Iranian nuclear sites, triggering retaliatory missile and drone strikes from Iran. The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump would decide within two weeks whether the U.S. would back Israel militarily. Wall Street equities were closed on Thursday. "Investors are treading cautiously, with fears of U.S. involvement adding a fresh layer of uncertainty to an already volatile environment," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. Domestic institutional investors (DII) remained net buyers of Indian stocks for the 23rd consecutive session on Thursday, with net inflows of 11.13 billion rupees ($128 million) in the previous session, cushioning volatile foreign flows and lending liquidity support to the markets. ** Mastek launches a comprehensive suite of AI solutions aimed at driving enterprise-wide AI adoption ** Nestle India says it will consider issuing bonus shares at a board meeting scheduled on June 26 ** ITD Cementation secures contracts worth 9.6 billion rupees ** HDFC Bank's unit HDB Financial Services sets a price band of 700-740 rupees per share for its initial public offering; issue to run from June 25-27 ($1 = 86.8130 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Gold steady as Israel-Iran conflict escalates, US involvement uncertain
Gold held steady on Friday, with geopolitical tensions escalating in the Middle East as Israel and Iran continued their air war, while investors remained wary of possible U.S. involvement. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold was steady at $3,367.60 an ounce, as of 0020 GMT. Bullion was down 1.9% so far this week. * U.S. gold futures were also stable at $3,384.20. * The conflict in the Middle East intensified on Thursday when Israel bombed Iran's nuclear sites, while Iran fired missile and drone strikes on Israel, including an overnight attack on an Israeli hospital. Neither side has signalled an exit strategy. Live Events * U.S. President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the Israel-Iran air war, the White House said on Thursday, raising pressure on Tehran to come to the negotiating table. * Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi have spoken by phone several times since Israel began its strikes on Iran last week, in a bid to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, three diplomats told Reuters. * Trump reiterated his calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, saying the rates should be 2.5 percentage points lower. * The Fed held rates steady on Wednesday, and policymakers retained projections for two quarter-point rate cuts this year. * European officials are increasingly resigned to a 10% rate on "reciprocal" tariffs being the baseline in any trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union, five sources familiar with the negotiations said. * The U.S. dollar index fell 0.2%, making greenback-priced bullion more affordable for overseas buyers. * Elsewhere, spot silver was steady at $36.36 per ounce, platinum fell 0.7% to $1,297.89, while palladium was down 0.4% to $1,046.71. All three metals were headed for weekly gain. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0100 China Loan Prime Rate 1Y, 5Y June 0600 UK Retail Sales MM, Ex-Fuel MM, YY May 0645 France Business Climate Mfg, Overall June 1230 US Philly Fed Business Index June 1400 EU consumer confidence flash June. ETMarkets WhatsApp channel )
