Chinese e-commerce sales up 14% during 618 shopping festival, report says

E-commerce firms including Alibaba and JD.com saw GMV rise during the midyear event, but merchants face declining profits amid a platform price war

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People walk past a promotional sign for the 618 shopping festival at a shopping mall in Hangzhou. Photo: Xinhua

Ann Caoin ShanghaiandIris Dengin Shenzhen

Published: 10:00am, 23 Jun 2024Updated: 10:05am, 23 Jun 2024

China’s major e-commerce platforms saw gross merchandise value (GMV) grow 13.6 per cent year on year during the 618 shopping festival, according to third-party data, although profit margins are likely to be squeezed amid a heated price war.

The estimated GMV growth, published in a report from research firm Analysys on Thursday, includes sales on China’s biggest online shopping platforms: Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao and Tmall, JD.com, Pinduoduo, ByteDance’s Douyin and rival short-video platform Kuaishou.

Newer challengers in the e-commerce arena appear to have greater momentum than Alibaba and JD.com, the two long-standing players in the domestic market. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, led all other platforms with a 26.2 per cent surge in GMV, followed by Pinduoduo’s 17.7 per cent and Kuaishou’s 16.1 per cent. Alibaba and JD.com saw GMV grow 12 per cent and 5.7 per cent, respectively, according to Analysys.

Workers sort parcels at an express logistics company in Huzhou, eastern Zhejiang province, on June 18, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

The companies have largely stopped publishing their own GMV figures for big shopping festivals, including for this year’s 618 event. However, the Analysys figures align with the growth narrative from the limited figures that firms did release this year.