Alibaba’s Singles’ Day has captured a lot of attention, having grown into the largest online shopping festival in the world and eclipsing Black Friday – but the JD.com 6.18 (June 18) shopping festival has not captured as much attention. JD.com launched the shopping event to commemorate the company’s establishment on June 18.  While still not as big as Single’s Day, JD.com’s 6.18 festival has grown to become a major e-commerce event in China, with other e-commerce platforms also joining and offering discounts — including arch rival Alibaba-owned Tmall and Taobao. In JD.com’s Weeks-Long 6.18 Campaign, Each Day Has a Shopping Theme JD.com’s midyear sales event runs from June 1-20 and kicks off with a pre-sales period – a discounting period ahead of the main 6.18 event – from May 24-31. During the pre-sale period, JD.com offers promotions such as ¥100 (around $14) off purchases over ¥199 (around $29) of cosmetics.  During the sales period, each sales day has a theme, for instance: 

• June 1: Flash Sales Day, with products selling as low as ¥9.9 (around $1.5), such as Lock & Lock glass bottle with original price ¥69 (around $10.0) and crayfish with original price ¥103 (around $14.9).
• June 6: Super Brand Day, focusing on different brands, with more than 100 brands participating, such as oral hygienic brand Oral-B. 
• June 8: Plus Day, when members of JD’s premium membership program JD Plus can enjoy exclusive promotions and benefits such as ¥30 (around $4) off purchases over ¥300 (around $43) in women’s apparel.
• June 13: Coupon Day, when JD.com gives out discount coupons.  

[caption id="attachment_90257" align="aligncenter" width="700"] JD.com’s 6.18 Shopping Festival Page on JD.com promoting home appliances with coupons worth ¥618 (around $89)
Source: JD.com[/caption]   JD.com’s Consumer Electronics Category Gaining Momentum The consumer electronics category continues to be JD.com’s strength: JD.com reported the number of mobile phones sold exceeded 50,000 in the first 3 minutes of sales on June 1. The number of personal computers sold reached 50,000 in the first five minutes.  Imported products also saw strong demand, with 245% year over year growth in the first hour of sales on June 1. The GMV of Swisse products surpassed last year’s full-day figure in the first 44 minutes of sales. JD.com’s New Move: Leveraging Social Media Platforms to Attract Young Consumers JD.com also is working with popular social platforms such as Twitter-like social media platform Weibo and short-video platforms TikTok and Kuaishou. Merchants can place visual content on these sites that links to the JD.com page, first capturing interest and then directing viewers to the page to purchase products. For instance, TikTok videos will connect to a JD.com mini-program store, where viewers can make purchases without leaving the TikTok app.  This collaboration also helps JD.com reach younger customers and consumers in China’s lower-tier cities. TikTok has approximately 500 million monthly active users: 70% were under 24 as of June 2018, while 54% of Kuaishou users were from third-tier cities and below as of December 2018.  Alibaba’s Platforms Kick off 6.18 with Various Initiatives Alibaba Group Taobao and Tmall platforms are also participating in the 6.18 shopping holiday from June 1-18, with more than 200,000 brands and retailers on Alibaba platforms. Alibaba has rolled out a number of initiatives to enhance customer engagement:

• Offering new products: Around 1.5 million new products will debut on Tmall, many developed based on consumer insights from Tmall.
• Flash sales: Alibaba’s flash sales platform Juhuasuan is launching 6.18-themed campaigns featuring must-buy items recommended by brands.
• Taobao livestreaming: Streetwear and sneaker resale store Stadium Goods, Korean beauty brands including Laneige and Innisfree, and Japanese cosmetics brand Shiseido will host livestreams to recommend products.
• Category promotions: From June 13-18, Alibaba will offer up to 50% off apparel, electronics, beauty, food, home furnishing, and mom and baby products across all sites, including Tmall and Taobao.

According to Alibaba, major brands such as Apple, L’Oréal, Lancôme, Nike and Adidas each gained more than ¥100 million (around $14 million) in sales in the first hour on June 1 on Taobao and Tmall, with Apple reaching that number in just two minutes and 45 seconds. Nike followed with four minutes. Key Insights In this year’s 6.18 shopping festival, e-commerce platforms such as JD.com and Tmall rolled out various initiatives to engage customers, such as collaborating with popular social media platforms and developing tailor-made products. As with Singles’ Day, the event is not just about shoppers grabbing great deals, but about platforms offering content, excitement and new products.