Double 11 is the creation of Alibaba’s Tmall while 618 was started by Jingdong. Every June is the anniversary month of JD; and, the promotion and discount reach the peak on 18 June.
Visit 618 China for the latest statistics and insights about 618 shopping festival.
618 China 2017
JD recorded over 100 million orders during last year’s 618, an increase of 60% YoY. Mobile accounted for 85%, more than doubled than in 2015. Its cross-border e-commerce retail section, JD Worldwide, saw 17 times more orders on 18 June 2016.
In response to the “Double 11” trademark ban, JD openly allows the industry to use the 618 trademark. June and November are the two online shopping peaks of the year with 618 and Double 11.
Consumers are more focused on prices, logistics, and after-sales services during Double 11 but more on quality, brand, and prices during 618 according to “China E-Commerce Promotion Trend Report”, jointly published by JD and 21Jingji.com.
Among the fourteen categories of products studied in the report, online users love to buy branded products during 618, including mobile phone, electronics, computers, and home appliances. Beauty care and health care products are the fastest-growing categories during 618 in the past three years.
For this year’s 618 promotion, JD focuses on both online and offline in five areas in addition to promoting “618” as an open brand:
- technology+retail. JD will deliver personalized product recommendations with AI and enhanced shopping experiences with AR and VR. In addition, Unmanned vehicle, drones, and sorting robots will also be used during this year’s 618 campaign.
- brand+retail. From June 2nd to June 16th, 14 well-known brands will join the endorser and consumers to carry out in-depth interactions
- IP+retail. JD will launch fan carnival activities with Lego, Disney, and Transformers.
- finance+retail. JD will offer online and offline credit services and consumer insurances.
- multichannel+retail. JD is partnering with both online and offline channels for 618 campaigns including Toutiao, iQiyi, QQ Browser, Agriculture Bank of China, China Telecom, etc.
Alibaba retail model integrates resources, emphasizing the integration of third-party services, while JD focuses on the direct sales model, emphasizing service controllability, high efficiency, and low cost.
This year’s 618 could become the watershed of China’s retail market
Said Xu Lei, CMO of JD.
Jingdong GMV for the first quarter of 2017 increased by 42% to 184.1 billion yuan (US$26.7 billion) from 129.3 billion yuan in Q1 2016. Annual active customer accounts increased by 40% to 236.5 million in the twelve months ended March 31, 2017, from 169.1 million in the twelve months ended March 31, 2016. Read more »
The total retail sales of consumer goods in China reached US$397.16 billion in April 2017, up by 10.7% YoY. In the first four months of 2017, the online retail sales of goods and services in China totaled US$279.26 billion, an increase of 32.0% YoY, accounting for 17.0% of total retail sales in the same period.
Update: As of 3pm 18 June, JD 618 campaign recorded total GMV of over 119.9 billion yuan (US$17.6 billion). The number of JD cross-border buyers doubled during 618 campaign compared with that of 2016.
Kaola.com, Netease’s cross-border retail e-commerce platform, saw a sales growth of 500% on 18 June 2017 from 18 June 2016.