The "618" shopping festival came with a bang but left quietly. This year, before the May Day sales promotion even ended, e-commerce platforms were already preparing for "618", with the entire promotion cycle being about one week longer than previous years. Coupled with the abolition of the pre-sale mechanism and increased low-price subsidies, it attracted the attention of many consumers from the start.

However, after more than a month of the "618" shopping festival, it still failed to create much of a splash. The platforms were only focused on price competition; top live streamers were "lying flat" one after another; and consumers showed "fatigue" on their faces. Only merchants faced difficulties.

A women's clothing merchant said that this year's "618" return rate reached 80%, far exceeding the 50% "lifeline" for profitability. It seems that there were no winners in this year's "618". Will this "quietness" become the norm for future e-commerce promotions?

1. The Undercurrents Behind the Grand Sales Promotion

In the eyes of e-commerce platforms, this year's "618" is still an important battle that cannot be missed. On June 19th, Tmall announced its 618 sales report, specifically mentioning that the transaction amount of Taobao's billion-yuan subsidy increased by 550% year-on-year, and the transaction amount of 1.9 million small and medium-sized merchants increased by over 100% year-on-year. Additionally, the number of new 88VIP members increased by 65% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, JD.com also announced its sales report on June 18th, stating that both the transaction amount and order volume of this year's 618 reached new highs. It also specifically mentioned that the number of users and order volume in the 9.9 yuan free shipping channel both increased by over 100 times; over 150,000 small and medium-sized merchants achieved sales growth of over 50%.

From these two sales reports, we can see that the competition among top e-commerce platforms is no longer just about GMV, but also about the number of members and the scale of small and medium-sized merchants. The platforms understand that the "low-price strategy" will continue, and the key to capturing users lies in increasing user stickiness and implementing the tone of "high quality at low prices".

Worth mentioning is that both platforms emphasized the contribution of live streaming, with Tmall mentioning that the GMV growth rate contributed by live streaming reached 261%, and JD.com stating that the order volume of JD.com live streaming increased by over 200% year-on-year. This means that the threat posed by short video platforms like TikTok and Kuaishou is not to be underestimated, and shelf e-commerce platforms have to accelerate their transformation.

However, behind these achievements are subsidies and discounts offered by the platforms with gritted teeth. For example, JD.com, as the "host" of the "618" battlefield, first announced an increase of 1 billion yuan in cash and traffic to encourage creators to participate in live streaming activities in early June; then it announced an increase in the billion-yuan subsidy before 618. Tmall also proposed an increase in the billion-yuan subsidy before 618, along with additional subsidies for merchant shipping and 88VIP free shipping.

But even as the platforms continue to increase their investments, the boost to sales from e-commerce promotions is diminishing. Ultimately, after more than a decade of e-commerce promotion fever, consumers' expectations and freshness are no longer what they were in the past, coupled with the poor economic environment, making it difficult for simple promotions to stimulate purchasing desire.

Therefore, compared to the jubilant sales reports, we can sense the objective fact of declining sales during "618" from the live streaming results of top