Shanghai Kicks Off Two-Month-Long 55 Shopping Festival To Revive Economy

The omnichannel festival will feature around 830 marketing campaigns in total, with promotional coupons and vouchers being issued on mobile e-commerce platforms and at shopping mall terminals to drive consumers that shop online to return to malls to access deals. Bailian has pledged to send out vouchers worth ¥1.2 billion ($169.4 million) across its 22,000 supermarkets and department stores in Shanghai. Alibaba’s platforms will offer vouchers worth ¥2  billion ($282.3 million), and its platforms will also feature products from the Hubei province, where the coronavirus originated.

Shanghai is encouraging offline retailers to use digital tools to market products and creatively engage with consumers. For instance, Suning asked its shops in Shanghai to promote products via livestreaming, with shop assistants showcasing products in front of a phone camera; consumers can purchase directly through embedded links in the videos in real time.

A Suning livestreaming session during Double Five

Source: Suning

The 55 Shopping Festival had a successful start. On Tmall Global—Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform—sales of imported products grew by 239% year over year on the first day of the festival. Sales in offline shopping malls—such as Global Harbour shopping mall, Hang Lung shopping mall and Mixc shopping mall—reportedly saw 20% year-over-year growth during the period May 5–13 , 2020.