On June 18, 2024, a Chinese shopper went shopping online in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, eastern China.
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Data from retail data provider Syntun showed that sales during China’s annual 618 e-commerce festival fell for the first time in eight years, showing that the consumption recovery in the world’s second-largest economy is still quite slow.
The company’s gross merchandise value (GMV) or sales during the shopping festival down 7% from last year According to the data, 742.8 billion yuan (102.3 billion U.S. dollars) Syntun’s estimate.
It’s also the first time Sytun has seen a sales decline since it began monitoring activity in 2016, the company told CNBC.
The event is named after the founding date of the Chinese e-commerce giant, June 18 Jingdongalthough other companies For example, Alibaba GroupTmall and Pinduoduo HoldingsPinduoduo is also getting in on the action, offering deep discounts and deals.
For example, select apple During this year’s 618, iPhone models in Chinese markets such as JD.com and Tmall are discounted by up to 20%.
It is China’s second-biggest annual sales event after November’s “Singles’ Day” – both seen as barometers of household spending.
According to Sytun’s analysis, which covers more than 20 platforms, sales this year have remained weak despite some companies extending the 618 sales period. For example, Tmall started offering 618 promotions as early as May 20 this year, instead of the usual May 31 start date.
Falling sales reflect weak consumer confidence The world’s largest e-commerce market This comes as the country faces a number of headwinds, including high youth unemployment and a prolonged housing crisis.
Syntun said 618 sales have grown even during Covid 19.
The pandemic has also given rise to the phenomenon of online retailers and influencers selling goods via livestreaming — also known as “livestreaming commerce” or “livestreaming e-commerce.”
According to Syntun, social media platforms with live streaming capabilities created 206.8 billion yuan ($28.4 billion) in GMV during this year’s 618 period, up from 184.4 billion yuan ($25.4 billion) in 2023, of which ByteDance’s TikTok achieved the highest GMV in this segment.
Despite the overall decline in GMV, some traditional e-commerce platforms still achieved positive performance this year.
JD.com said on Wednesday its turnover and order volume hit new highs during the holiday season, but did not disclose sales figures.
Meanwhile, Tmall, which ranked No. 1 in sales in Sytun’s report, said that as of Tuesday, 365 brands on the platform had GMV of more than 100 million yuan ($13.8 million), and more than 36,000 brands had doubled their GMV.
According to a report from HSBC on Thursday, the 618 campaign was a “mixed bag”. Sales started strong in the first half of the holiday season, according to estimates from third-party data provider Analysys, but appeared to slow in the second half based on package volume data, the report said.
Although China’s economy has been facing headwinds, retail sales rose 3.7% year-on-year in May, beating analysts’ expectations; however, industrial output and fixed asset investment fell short of forecasts in a Reuters poll.
—CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng and Vivien Soo contributed to this report
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