Platforms prepare for June 18 shopping carnival

Major Chinese e-commerce platforms have ramped up efforts to offer steep discounts and consumption coupons as well as to simplify promotions during this year's June 18 online shopping carnival, with direct price reductions being a preferred strategy of attracting price-conscious customers and bolstering sales.

As Chinese shoppers have become more rational and prudent about potential purchases, e-commerce players are taking a more pragmatic and simpler approach, with a key focus on stepping up support for merchants and offering subsidies for the country's consumer goods trade-in program, experts said.

Alibaba Group's business-to-customer platform Tmall kicked off its presale campaign at 8 pm on Tuesday, with the maximum discount reaching 50 percent, while offering artificial intelligence-powered tools to improve the digital operation capacities of merchants.

The platform's trade-in subsidy program includes more than 1,600 categories such as household appliances, smartphones, electronic gadgets, wearable devices, smart home and home decorations. Both homegrown and foreign brands are participating in the national subsidy program.

Taobao Live, Alibaba's livestreaming arm, announced plans to invest 2 billion yuan ($277.3 million) in cash incentives for consumers, high-quality products and livestreaming hosts during the midyear shopping festival.

JD announced on Thursday that it will offer each consumer over 1,000 yuan shopping subsidy each day and give discounts for commodities included in the consumer goods trade-in program, such as smartphones, digital products and home appliances. It has also stepped up efforts to upgrade supply chains and improve logistics services.

During the shopping spree, more high-quality goods from the country's exporters will be provided to domestic consumers as JD announced a 200 billion yuan "export-to-domestic sales policy "support plan in April to help export-oriented enterprises expand sales in the domestic market.

Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst at consultancy iiMedia Research, said major online marketplaces have made promotional methods simpler and further optimized consumer shopping experiences and services this year, as Chinese consumers tend to purchase premium products with high cost-effectiveness.

"Consumption has become the main driving force boosting China's economic growth, and the June 18 online shopping extravaganza is pivotal to unleashing consumers' purchasing potential, expanding domestic demand and promoting consumption recovery amid downward pressure and external uncertainties," said Wang Yun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research.

This year's Government Work Report listed vigorously boosting consumption and expanding domestic demand across the board as a top priority among major tasks for 2025.

In March, China unveiled a comprehensive pro-consumption policy package aimed at strengthening consumer confidence via measures such as stabilizing jobs, increasing household income and alleviating financial burdens.

The country announced in January a raft of measures to expand the scope of the consumer goods trade-in program, as the world's second-largest economy moves to make domestic demand the main engine and anchor of economic growth.

China's retail sales, a significant indicator of consumption strength, expanded 4.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, which was 1.1 percentage points faster than the 2024 level, said the National Bureau of Statistics. The e-commerce sector has reported steady growth, with online retail sales rising 7.9 percent year-on-year during the January-March period.

"Major e-commerce platforms have beefed up efforts to give more assistance for merchants, which is conducive to improving the quality of supply and stimulating consumers' purchasing appetite, thus injecting more vitality and momentum into the country's consumption market," said Mo Daiqing, a senior analyst at the Internet Economy Institute, a domestic consultancy.

Mo said the simplified promotional events and direct price cuts will help merchants improve operational efficiency and increase the supply of high-quality merchandise, so as to attract new users and rev up sales.

The policy measures to encourage the trade-ins of consumer goods have not only motivated consumers' enthusiasm to purchase, but also bolstered the sales of household appliances and consumer electronic products, Mo added.

Zhuang Shuai, founder of Bailian Consulting and an expert in e-commerce and retail, said Chinese consumer enthusiasm for the online shopping festival will not wane, but what e-commerce platforms should do is to improve supply chains and optimize business and operational models in accordance with shoppers' buying habits and preferences.