"Did you shop during this year's 618? How much did you spend?" These are common greetings between friends recently. Some people feel that this year's 618 was a bit subdued or even quiet, while others are tired of the ultra-long shopping season format, with Tmall and JD.com lasting for 1 month and 18 days respectively, and Kuaishou lasting for 42 days. However, there are also many people who enjoy it, going crazy with shopping during 618.

Although users have mixed opinions about 618, a series of final reports cannot lie. On Tmall, as of 24:00 on June 18th, 365 brands achieved over 100 million in sales, over 36,000 brands doubled their sales, the number of new 88VIP members increased by 65% year-on-year, Taobao's 10 billion subsidy sales grew by 550% year-on-year, nearly 30,000 small and medium-sized merchants achieved sales of over 1 million, and the number of live streaming rooms with over 100 million sales increased by 53% year-on-year.

On JD.com, sales and order volume both reached new highs during 618, with 83 brands achieving cumulative sales of over 1 billion, and over 150,000 small and medium-sized merchants achieving sales growth of over 50%. The number of live streaming orders increased by over 200% year-on-year. On Xiaohongshu, the number of 618 live streaming orders was 5.4 times that of the same period last year, and the number of purchasing users reached 5.2 times that of the same period last year. On Bilibili, the GMV of live streaming sales increased by 146% year-on-year, and the total order volume increased by 154% year-on-year. In addition, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Vipshop also delivered impressive results.

It is not difficult to see that this year's 618 was not as subdued as imagined. On the contrary, users' enthusiasm for shopping remained unchanged. With the strong support of good products, good prices, and good services, there were many noteworthy aspects of this year's 618. As the hustle and bustle of the promotional event gradually subsided, major players began to calmly review the gains and losses, highlights and shortcomings of 618, as well as the evolution direction of future competition.

The 618 strategy has changed: simplicity and affordability are the key

I asked many friends who shopped during 618 about their experience, and they unanimously mentioned two keywords: simple and affordable. This is the most intuitive and authentic feeling of users. Indeed, the 618 strategy has changed this year, becoming closer to user needs, returning to the original essence of promotional events, simplifying the purchase process, and offering real benefits, which naturally ignites users' consumption enthusiasm.

First, let's talk about simplicity. As the two main players in this year's 618, Tmall and JD.com both canceled the pre-sale system that has been in place for more than ten years. In 2012, Tmall introduced the pre-sale model during the Double 11 shopping festival, bringing controllable inventory and significant sales to the platform and merchants, while also reducing the pressure on users to make one-time payments. At that time, pre-sales was a win-win situation for the platform, merchants, and buyers.

However, over time, the drawbacks of the pre-sale system gradually emerged, including long delivery times, inconsistent prices, and inconvenient returns.