Sales event gathering steam across delta region
Brands are seizing the chance to offer limited editions, new product launches and digital shopping sites with discounted items.
Jenny Wang, a marketing consultant in neighboring Zhejiang Province, said she's planning to buy new eyeshadow packs from a local skincare and beauty brand that are set to go on sale next week during the 618 sales campaign.
"I've been looking forward to new beauty products, and it's a great time to purchase new offerings during these big sales events to get the best discounts," she said.
She's also planning to purchase dozens of personal hygiene and home-care items and a computer hard drive.
The mid-year online sales event, which was initiated by JD several years ago, has become the second largest annual shopping discount event after Singles Day. Brands are seizing the opportunity to offer limited editions, new product launches and digital shopping sites with discounted items.
Researcher Mo Daiqing from the online consultancy group China E-commerce Research Center said that although Singles Day and 618 started out as online events, both online and offline retailers are embracing the campaign to woo shoppers who are increasingly hard to please.
The number of pre-sale orders on JD surged more than six times, and the number of brands participating in the event has increased 1.2 times from a year ago, as the run-up to the peak of the sales event started earlier this week.
Big brand names like Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei and Haier have reported more than 100 million yuan in sales during the run-up period.
Smart home devices, gaming consoles and pet beauty appliances are among the fastest-growing segments.
JD is also joining hands with its affiliate Dada Group in more than 1,400 cities and counties for one-hour delivery from 3 million merchants.
On-demand delivery will be a new feature for this year's sales event to help retailers that don't yet have online storefronts reach online shoppers.
Jason Ding, senior partner at Bain Co, said it's essential for brands to carry out tailor-made marketing and retailing strategies in different city and county levels that cover both online and offline channels to achieve all-inclusive sales growth.
Suning's pre-sales event kicked off with a lucky draw for blind boxes containing ravel packages, gaming consoles and home electronics.
More gaming features were added to Suning's sales event this year, a livestreaming variety show featuring top stand-up comedians was staged and as many as 100,000 blind boxes were sold.
Shanghai Suning stores are offering trade-ins for high-end home appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines to showcase home-cleaning and energy-saving models.
More than 250,000 Tmall merchants are adding 13 million new product listings for the monthlong campaign, 1.4 million of which are available for the first time, as online sales events are wooing shoppers with fresh tastes and cutting-edge technologies.
Same-day delivery service by Alibaba's logistics affiliate Cainiao now covers 300 domestic cities to facilitate rush-hour deliveries.
Tmall shoppers can take advantage of 30-yuan discounts for every 200 yuan they spend on top of discount coupons from various brands.
Top livestreamers added steam to booming sales during Alibaba's Tmall sales event.
More than a dozen companies, including premium skincare and consumer electronic brands, reported more than 10 million yuan in sales during their livestreaming sessions on Tmall this week.
