Can "618" shopping festival boost consumption?

By Zhong Mengxia

On June 18th, the annual mid—year e—commerce shopping festival came again. At present, under the background of increasing downward pressure on Chi—na's economy and frequent outbreaks, large—scale e—commerce shopping festival is regarded as an important node to stimulate consumption and regain confidence. Experts believe that this year's shopping events are very special. In addition to the big promotion events like previ—ous years, it is more important to cooperate with brands and enterprises to break through the downward trend of consumption, with lower promotion costs, more stable supply chain services, and faster fund settlement, thus solving the urgent needs of brand enterprises.

Activating the short-term consumer market

The opening time is earlier and the duration is lon—ger, which has become a major feature of the e—com—merce shopping festival in recent years. On May 23rd, JD opened the "618" shopping festival until June 20th. On the same day, Pinduoduo and Suning were officially launched; on May 26th, the pre—sale of Tmall "618" be—gan. The preferential rules are also simpler.

Various e—commerce shopping festivals are important windows to show China's consumption strength. Accord—ing to public data, in 2021, the total amount of commodity transactions in the "618" network reached 578.5 billion yuan, a year—on—year increase of 26.5%. Within 4 hours after the opening, the pre—sale amount of household appli—ances in JD reached three times that of last year.

“Affected by the pandemic, more consumers are will—ing to hoard goods at present, and the past consumption patterns have changed. Consumers are now more prag—matic, and their demand for centralized procurement of daily necessities is growing stronger and stronger. And “618” shopping event provides such an opportunity for consum—ers to realize centralized consumption at a lower price.” Pan Helin, co—director and researcher of Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of Zhejiang University International Joint Business School, said.

Boost the offline real economy

The slogan of "618" not only represent a online carnival, but also boost offline consumption. JD cooper—ates with Shenzhen and many other cities, distributed coupons through Jingdong Smart City Consumption Promotion Platform, covering many online and offline consumption scenarios, and continuously motivat—ing consumption potential. In addition, the real—time retail business of JD Retail also united with more than 150,000 offline physical stores in China, such as Wal—Mart, CR Vanguard, Apple and Sephora, to bring real—time retail experience of good things in the same city for consumers in more than 1,700 counties, districts and cities; In view of the businesses in industrial belts and agricultural production areas seriously affected by the COVID in Pinduoduo, special relief measures and support have been introduced to promote the direct connection of high—quality goods to the national market; Suning fo—cused on the county and town markets, with more than 11,000 retail cloud stores joining hands with over 1,800 home appliance brands to provide users with solutions around "home scene" consumption.

Ren Xingzhou, former director of the Market Economy Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that "618" provided a convenient online consumption scene and an efficient shopping experi—ence, which was conducive to promoting the digital trans—formation of retail, driving more online platforms and offline commercial and service enterprises to participate in it, thus promoting online and offline consumption together, and consumption growth and quality upgrading.

Create a stable and efficient supply chain

Because of the spread of the pandemic in many places, this year's "618" is very special, and it becomes more important to build a stable and efficient supply chain. Logistics has a certain influence on the sales, but overall, the situation gets better and better. According to the worker of Vipshop, the logistics of Vipshop has been rapidly restored in addition to the closed area in Shang—hai, and hundreds of thousands of orders have been sent out in recent days. After Shanghai returns to normal track, it is expected that consumption will recover.

Recently, JD announced the construction achieve—ments of "Web Weaving Plan". With 43 "Asia No. 1" large—scale intelligent logistics parks and about 1,400 warehouses operating nationwide as the core, a highly coordinated multi—level logistics infrastructure and warehouse distribution network has been set up, which not only establishes the trust between the industrial end and the consumer end, but also helps about 90% of JD's self—operated online orders achieving arrive immediately. Tmall's international cross—border bonded warehouse logistics service has been upgraded. On the basis of providing merchants with intelligent warehousing and stocking, and delivery from warehouses can be directly delivered to consumers; Suning insist on providing door—to—door service in the whole country, relying on the ad—vantages of warehouse and distribution integration, it will integrate supply chain service capabilities, create supply chain solutions for merchants that can better adapt to front—end retail formats, and provide high—quality logis—tics services for merchants and users.

Severe pandemic prevention and control and down—ward economy have made us put forward urgent require—ments for the operation mode and efficiency of innova—tive supply chains such as digitalization, intelligence and contactless technology. As the demand for daily neces—sities increases, enterprises should seize the opportunity of holidays and shopping festivals, ensure a stable and efficient supply chain, and strive to expand sales supply for potential customers.