The 618 Mid-Year Shopping Festival, a beacon in the e-commerce calendar, has emerged as a pivotal battleground for major platforms and brand merchants alike. This year's edition promises even greater excitement, with platforms initiating pre-sale activities from mid-May, showcasing a myriad of engaging tactics.

This flurry of activity not only creates a shopping carnival atmosphere for consumers but also presents merchants with opportunities to achieve performance milestones. Brands have upped their investment, strategizing on inventory, sales channels, and marketing to surge towards sales peaks. A notable example is Douyin E-commerce's announcement on May 13 that the iPhone 16 Pro would participate in the "National Subsidy" program for the first time, priced at an astonishing RMB 5,499 for the 128GB variant, sparking widespread online buzz.

For merchants, 618 is a double-edged sword—a crucial sales sprint and a comprehensive test of operational prowess. In policy-supported categories like 3C electronics, furniture, and appliances, consumption upgrades and government incentives are poised to propel sales to new heights. Merchants who adeptly anticipate consumer trends, effectively integrate platform resources, and swiftly adapt to market shifts will emerge victorious in this annual exam.

So, amidst the 618 Grand Promotion's blend of opportunities and challenges, how can merchants harness the wind and achieve a market turnaround, transitioning from followers to leaders?

| Content Reigns Supreme: Attractive Means Effective |

As the national subsidy policy gains momentum, major e-commerce platforms are diving into this segment. Douyin E-commerce, leveraging its unique content ecosystem, stands out with remarkable growth potential.

Official data reveals that Douyin E-commerce's national subsidy business surged in Q1 2025: over 10 million users qualified for subsidies, with nearly 5,000 participating merchants and a continuously expanding scale. Transaction volumes within the subsidy scope soared by over 160% year-on-year, with personal care appliances, laptops, and mobile phones witnessing increases of 160%, 140%, and 120%, respectively.

This success is underpinned by Douyin E-commerce's content ecosystem. The evolution of shopping habits has seen consumers increasingly seeking detailed subsidy policy information, product insights, and purchase decisions on the platform. They crave immersive, diverse content experiences beyond traditional product displays, fostering rational consumption choices.

This shift has unleashed the full potential of Douyin E-commerce's content ecosystem. To date, national subsidy-related short videos have amassed over 4.4 billion views, with the "#NationalSubsidy on Douyin" hashtag surpassing 300 million views.

Behind the buzz lies consumers' genuine, diverse needs. Merchants on Douyin E-commerce capitalize on this policy-driven heat and demand through short videos, live streams, and image-text content. Many brands have pioneered breakthrough strategies on this fertile content ground.

For instance, Xiaomi employed a dual-scene live streaming approach: product managers took viewers inside factories for an up-close tech experience, while senior executives elucidated subsidy policies and guided users through the subsidy process. The live stream drew 619,000 viewers, peaking at 48,000 concurrent users.

Hisense, on the other hand, collaborated with influencers to create pre-live short videos, followed by post-live highlights, sustaining subsidy-related topic heat and converting traffic into sales. Store content volume surged by 103% compared to the base period.

Brands have innovated with influencers and celebrities. Midea crafted situational sketches featuring Ran Gaoming as the "National Subsidy Doctor," seamlessly weaving policy and product benefits into the narrative. The live stream attracted over 900,000 viewers, with national subsidy GMV spiking 64-fold. Panasonic created an engaging live stream with Xu Zhisheng, showcasing product highlights and subsidy benefits, resulting in a 68-fold GMV increase.

Furthermore, the power of influencers and user-generated content cannot be overstated. Tech-savvy influencers offer in-depth product analyses, while user testimonials bolster product credibility. This synergy fuels the national subsidy shopping spree, positioning Douyin E-commerce as a prime destination for both consumers and brands.

| Resource Intensification: Accelerating Business Growth |

The national subsidy policy has deepened, unleashing business potential and invigorating the consumer market. Early 2025 saw the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance issue a joint notice expanding subsidy-eligible home appliances from 8 to 12 categories, significantly broadening policy coverage and support.

Savvy merchants are seizing this opportunity, partnering with platforms for strategic overtakes. Brands like Midea and Panasonic chose Douyin E-commerce due to its content ecosystem and comprehensive resource support.

To empower merchants, Douyin E-commerce established a professional team grounded in regional subsidy policy research, fostering a conducive business environment. It integrated resources to launch the "Crazy National Subsidy Day" IP, addressing consumer pain points through streamlined processes and discounts, optimizing the shopping experience and bolstering business booms.

Specifically, the platform created a dedicated subsidy page, simplifying the redemption process. Users can access the page via keywords like "National Subsidy," completing redemption in three steps: real-name authentication, coupon redemption, and usage. This lowers the participation threshold, fuels consumer enthusiasm, and ensures broad policy benefits.

Additionally, the platform complements national subsidies with its own resources, forming a "National Subsidy + Platform Subsidy" dual benefit model. This aligns with consumers' cost-efficiency pursuits, enhancing product price competitiveness. For example, the [Super Value Purchase] channel offers "bone-breaking" deals on best-sellers, with discounts up to 50%, catering to users' quest for extreme value and igniting consumption passion.

In terms of channel layout, the platform integrates search and mall resources, covering the entire user journey from discovery to purchase. Whether users stumble upon products during casual browsing or actively search for them, they enjoy a seamless shopping experience, benefiting merchants' conversion rates.

Since its launch, the "Crazy National Subsidy Day" IP has garnered enthusiastic market response. By April 2025, it had hosted over 20 events, encompassing 20 leading brands in mobile phones, home appliances, digital products, furniture, etc., sparking continuous consumption surges.

As 618 approaches, Douyin E-commerce will further amplify support. Besides stacking consumption vouchers and issuing coupons during large store broadcasts, the platform integrates online-offline resources to broaden and deepen user coverage for merchants.

Online, the platform leverages search Easter eggs, brand pavilions, super value purchases, and live stream selections to build a seamless path from discovery to conversion. Influencer collaborations enable targeted product penetration across diverse interest groups. Offline, strategic outdoor advertising alliances amplify product benefits, driving online traffic.

Amid 618's myriad opportunities, merchants must look beyond promotional gains. They must adopt a long-term perspective, leveraging policy support and platform resources to build core competitiveness resilient to industry cycles.

The national subsidy policy, coupled with Douyin E-commerce's intensifying resource support, places merchants at a new business frontier brimming with imagination. Driven by policies and platforms, an increasing number of industry players are choosing Douyin E-commerce as their mainstay, achieving growth through user asset accumulation, brand value enhancement, and business methodology maturation.

These market-tested strategies not only support current expansion but can be systematically reused in future business cycles. Armed with these insights, merchants continue to level up and conquer challenges on their business journeys, steadily advancing towards industry leadership.

Images sourced from official channels and subject to removal upon infringement.