China subsidies give Alibaba, JD.com sales lift during 618 shopping festival

More than 453 brands each surpassed 100 million yuan (US$14 million) in gross merchandise value (GMV) on Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall platforms during the weeks-long event, the company said on Thursday. The roster included global names such as Apple, Nike, Adidas, L’Oreal and Lululemon, alongside Chinese heavyweights like Midea, Haier, Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies.

Alibaba, owner of the Post, said its buyer base grew at a double-digit pace from a year earlier, reaching an all-time high for the 618 shopping festival period. The midyear sales event typically starts in late May and runs through June 18, the date for which it is named.

JD.com, Alibaba’s main e-commerce rival and the creator of the 618 event, said on Thursday that its transactional users doubled year on year, with 2.2 billion orders placed during the period across its online and offline channels, including its new food delivery business.

Neither company disclosed total GMV for the event, continuing a trend in recent years of withholding headline sales figures, which no longer paint a rosy picture in a maturing market. China’s retail sales rose 6.4 per cent in May, the fastest pace since December 2023, according to official data.

A JD.com advertisement for the 618 shopping festival seen at a shopping mall in Beijing on June 14, 2022. Photo: Reuters

Industry consultancy Syntun estimated total 618 sales across major platforms – including Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall, JD.com, PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo, ByteDance’s Douyin, and Kuaishou Technology – reached 855.6 billion yuan, up 15 per cent from 742.8 billion yuan a year earlier.

South China Morning Post