Shopping festival ends with flourish

Consumer enthusiasm for online shopping in China has been evident during this year's "618" shopping carnival, an extended sales event that wrapped up on Wednesday, which experts said has played a pivotal role in unleashing domestic demand potential, promoting the recovery of consumption and shoring up the economy.

Emphasizing that consumption has become a major driving force for China's economic growth, they said major e-commerce platforms have taken a more pragmatic approach and simplified promotions this year, with a key focus on stepping up support for merchants and offering more cost-effective products for consumers.

They said home appliances and smart electronic gadgets have gained in popularity among Chinese shoppers amid the country's drive to boost consumption, which includes the expansion of the consumer goods trade-in program.

Data from e-commerce giant JD, which initiated the midyear promotional campaign, showed that sales of smartphones priced between 4,000 yuan ($556.7) and 6,000 yuan rose 50 percent year-on-year during the promotional gala, which kicked off at 8 pm on May 31, while the turnover of artificial intelligence-powered laptops surged 151 percent from a year earlier.

China's Generation Z shoppers — those born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s — have shown robust purchasing power for personalized and trendy commodities, with electronic gadgets, mobile phones, home appliances, apparel, and beauty and skincare products being the most popular items among young consumers, JD said.

Moreover, an increasing number of overseas consumers participated in the "618" promotional gala. Orders from JD Global Sales, JD's cross-border e-commerce business division, soared 236 percent year-on-year.

According to Tmall, Alibaba's business-to-customer platform, turnover of home appliances, mobile phones and digital products participating in trade-in programs increased 283 percent compared with last year's Singles Day shopping extravaganza, a weekslong sales event that peaks on Nov 11.

"The 618 online shopping extravaganza is pivotal to stimulating consumers' purchasing appetites, bolstering domestic demand and propping up economic growth amid 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 key priorities for 2025.

The country announced in January a raft of measures to expand the scope of the consumer goods trade-in program, increasing funding from 150 billion yuan last year to 300 billion yuan, and expanding government subsidies for categories of home appliances and electronic products such as smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and wristbands.

Jason Yu, general manager of CTR Market Research, said the expansion of the trade-in program has not only motivated consumer enthusiasm and boosted sales of consumer electronic devices and home appliances on online marketplaces, but also propelled the popularity of high-end, intelligent and energy-saving commodities and elevated people's quality of life.

Yu emphasized that online retailers have made promotional methods simpler this time to improve the consumer shopping experience, given that Chinese shoppers attach great importance to product quality and value, and are inclined to purchase premium merchandise boasting high cost-effectiveness.

Denis Cheng, consumer sector leader of EY Greater China, said the trade-in program has reduced costs for consumers purchasing new products of better quality and higher performance, thus promoting the optimization and upgrade of the overall consumption structure and bolstering sales of household appliances and digital products.

Cheng highlighted the significant role of the midyear shopping festival in driving the recovery and growth of China's consumer market, providing consumers with more diverse and personalized shopping experiences, and further revitalizing consumption potential.

China's retail sales, a significant indicator of consumption strength, grew 6.4 percent year-on-year in May, compared with a 5.1 percent rise in April, making it the fastest pace of growth since late 2023, said the National Bureau of Statistics.

Cheng said China's consumption market is expected to maintain stable growth fueled by the consumer goods trade-in program, online shopping festivals, stable recovery of the macroeconomy and gradual increases in household incomes.