Li Lei, Harbor Business Observer

The year's most important shopping festival, 618, has finally come to an end. How did the major e-commerce platforms compete during 618 in 2024? What new highlights were there? Both have become reference indicators for outsiders to observe consumer behavior.

According to JD.com's 618 data: 83 brands achieved cumulative sales of over 1 billion, more than 150,000 small and medium-sized merchants saw sales growth of over 50%, the number of online products increased by over 100% year-on-year, and both the number of users and orders receiving subsidies of over 10 billion increased by over 150% year-on-year.

Taobao's report showed that 365 brands achieved sales of over 100 million on Tmall's 618, and over 36,000 brands doubled their sales. The number of new 88VIP members increased by 65% year-on-year, setting a new record for membership size. The growth rate and scale of transactions in industries such as beauty, 3C digital, home appliances, food, and fresh produce on 618 Tmall ranked first on the entire network.

As the market has observed, this year's 618 major e-commerce platforms did not provide detailed data on GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume), but instead focused on measures such as eliminating pre-sales, increasing live streaming, and increasing discounts.

In addition to JD.com and Taobao, Xiaohongshu released 618-related data showing that since its launch on May 19, the number of Xiaohongshu's e-commerce live streaming orders on the first day was 8.2 times that of the same period last year, and the GMV of live streaming transactions was 6 times that of the same period last year. The number of store broadcasts on the first day was 3.8 times that of the same period last year, and the GMV of store broadcasts was 4.2 times that of the same period last year.

TikTok e-commerce announced that during the event period (May 24 to June 18), in terms of content, the cumulative duration of live streaming on the TikTok platform reached 149 million hours, and the number of authors with transaction amounts exceeding 50 million yuan increased by 29% month-on-month, while the transaction amount of over 190,000 authors increased by 300% year-on-year. Over 370,000 authors participated in the 618 Good Things Festival for the first time.

In addition, the overall "618" event durations of Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, TikTok, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu in 2024 were 33 days, 21 days, 33 days, 26 days, 42 days, and 43 days, respectively, compared with 26 days, 29 days, 33 days, 25 days, 32 days, and 26 days in 2023, with most platforms extending their event cycles.

The "2024 618 Review Observation" recently released by Analysys Intelligence pointed out that under the boost of factors such as eliminating pre-sales, simplifying rules, and adjusting the sales cycle, the growth rate of e-commerce transactions during this year's 618 has increased significantly, with the GMV of the comprehensive e-commerce market (including Taobao Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo) during the entire 618 period increasing by 11.2% year-on-year, and the growth rate of Taobao Tmall's transaction volume reaching 12%, accounting for 62% of the market share of comprehensive e-commerce platforms.

Internationally renowned investment bank Goldman Sachs believes that during the one-month shopping festival, the three major e-commerce platforms of Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo all provided significant discounts, with most product prices on different platforms being similar, and all paying more attention to consumer experience.

Goldman Sachs predicts that the total commodity transaction volume (GMV) of the 618 industry this year is expected to achieve low double-digit growth year-on