JD.com Heats Up the Battle for 618 Dominance

What happened E-tailer JD.com kicked off China’s 618 festival today by announcing that sales have already soared across a number of categories. During the four phases of the mid-year shopping event, an estimated 200 million new products will go on sale. This year’s 618 coincides with the 17th anniversary of JD.com and will see the e-commerce giant distribute at least 10 billion yuan worth of compensation and vouchers as well as 100 billion yuan worth of discounts. JD.com also inked a collaboration with video sharing platform Kuaishou for the event. The Jing Take As countries across the world grapple with the aftermath of COVID-19, this is the first large nationwide shopping festival in China since the outbreak; the results will be a solid indicator of China post-pandemic. According to JD.com’s initial figures, China’s appetite for online consumption stands strong: the first hourly report indicated the transaction volume of luxury products increased by 400% — surpassing total sales of 2019’s June 1 — though it is currently unclear if the financial incentives have been reflected in the totals. Moreover, the recent deal with Kuaishou indicates that livestreaming will continue to shape future online retail trends. With additional partners like Douyin, Bilibili, and Huya, JD.com aims to facilitate over 300,000 livestreams sessions during the event (from vloggers to government ministers to CEOs). As 618 continues, expect the battle to heat up between JD.com and Alibaba. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

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JD.com Heats Up the Battle for 618 Dominance