Alibaba has concluded its most-successful 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival (618) yet, empowering merchants and brands around the world navigating through the pandemic to regain their momentum and reconnect with customers.
Adidas, ANTA, Apple, Estée Lauder, Haier, Huawei, La Mer, Lenovo, L’Oréal, Nike, Shiseido, The History of Whoo and Xiaomi were among top international brands that surpassed RMB100 million in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in the campaign this year.
Thai brands and merchants have tapped this annual festival to enhance their overseas customer reach and reaped solid returns. Bird’s nest brand Scotch, which took part in the campaign for the first time this year, saw Chinese consumers snapping up more than 10,000 bottles of its bird’s nest and collagen products within five minutes after the sale started on June 1. The brand’s total sales generated on Tmall Global from June 1 to 16 exceed that of the whole month of May.
Meanwhile, whey protein brand Fitwhey, which is gaining popularity among durian and Thai food lovers in China, also achieved huge success in its first appearance in the campaign. Total sales achieved by Fitwhey’s flagship store on Tmall Global from June 1 to 16 was 60% more than that of the whole month of May. The brand’s signature durian-flavored whey protein sold particularly well during the sale.
Adidas, ANTA, Apple, Estée Lauder, Haier, Huawei, La Mer, Lenovo, L’Oréal, Nike, Shiseido, The History of Whoo and Xiaomi were among top international brands that surpassed RMB100 million in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in the campaign this year.
Thai brands and merchants have tapped this annual festival to enhance their overseas customer reach and reaped solid returns. Bird’s nest brand Scotch, which took part in the campaign for the first time this year, saw Chinese consumers snapping up more than 10,000 bottles of its bird’s nest and collagen products within five minutes after the sale started on June 1. The brand’s total sales generated on Tmall Global from June 1 to 16 exceed that of the whole month of May.
Meanwhile, whey protein brand Fitwhey, which is gaining popularity among durian and Thai food lovers in China, also achieved huge success in its first appearance in the campaign. Total sales achieved by Fitwhey’s flagship store on Tmall Global from June 1 to 16 was 60% more than that of the whole month of May. The brand’s signature durian-flavored whey protein sold particularly well during the sale.
Thai produce was also a highlight in Tmall’s mid-year sale, as Chinese shoppers bought a total of more than 140,000 durians, 3.9 million mangosteens and 320,000 coconuts from Thailand on Tmall in the first week of the campaign alone.
During the campaign, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Mr. Jurin Laksanawisit and other country leaders also took to Taobao Live to engage with and promote local goods to Chinese shoppers.
Tmall commands position in business digitization
“The success brands have experienced clearly shows the strength and power of Alibaba’s ecosystem,” said Liu Bo, vice president of Alibaba Group and general manager of Tmall and Taobao marketing and operation. “We are in a unique position to offer brands a comprehensive set of innovative tools and technologies to accelerate their digital transformations and empower them to deepen their ties with customers to provide an unparalleled shopping experience.”
Taobao Live demonstrated its power as a leading platform for businesses, both big and small, to engage with Chinese consumers. Some 15 brands each generated more than RMB100 million in GMV via livestreaming alone through their Tmall flagship stores. Overall, the number of Taobao Live sessions climbed 123% year-on-year.
618 a sign of China’s post-Covid-19 rebound
Imported products were on high demand. Around 25,000 overseas brands, including those from Thailand, participated in the campaign through Tmall Global, launching over 400,000 new products. And 4,000 overseas brands doubled their sales. The GMV* of imported products sold on Tmall Global increased by 43% from last year, while the GMV* involving products shipped through the Tmall Overseas Fulfillment program (TOF) doubled. TOF now operates centers in Europe, Japan, South Korea and the U.S..
The 618 results solidified Tmall’s position as the go-to platform for the mid-year shopping campaign, and the surge in demand across a range of categories is a further sign of China’s ongoing economic rebound. Specifically:
- In the consumer electronics category, 25 brands saw growth of more than 10 times last year in the first hour of June 16.
- 66 apparel brands had sales that rocketed 600% on June 1. In the first hour of June 16, 28 apparel brands exceeded their full-day sales totals from the last year.
- In the FMCG category, cosmetic products and food surpassed RMB100 million in GMV within the first minute of June 16. The mother-and-baby sector achieved RMB100 million in GMV in 1.5 minutes, while the personal care sector did the same in 3 minutes.
- Healthcare products attracted strong interest. Data from Alibaba Health showed the number of merchants participating in 618 this year increased by 70% compared to the same period last year.
- Gamification deepened customer engagement with over 400 million visits to Tmall’s 618 “Ideal Life Express” game. Sales of 1,700 different agricultural products doubled year-on-year.
- Apart from pent-up demand, Tmall made its 3D shopping technology widely available to brands during 618, vastly enhancing the shopping experience. IKEA, which debuted on Tmall just ahead of 618, quickly adopted the 3D technology in its flagship store. Overall, in just three days, stores using Tmall 3D attracted five million visitors and quintupled the average conversion rates of consumers.
This year’s 618 provided a window onto how online retail helps to boost the China economy that was
affected by the lockdown early this year. Tmall online physical goods GMV saw a strong recovery in April and continued to further improve in May.
*“GMV” is the total value of orders settled through Alipay on Tmall Global.
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