China’s Midyear 6.18 Shopping Festival Wrap-Up: Lower-Tier Cities and Group Buying Become the Winning Formula

Executive Summary

The 6.18 shopping festival, created by JD.com, has grown to become a major midyear e-commerce event in China, with other e-commerce platforms joining in and offering discounts — including rivals Alibaba-owned Tmall and group buying platform Pinduoduo.

• E-commerce platforms including JD.com, Tmall and Pinduoduo reported strong sales during the 18-day 6.18 shopping festival, with JD.com reporting total transaction volume of $29.2 billion.
• Group buying has become one of the push factors for e-commerce platforms: Alibaba’s group buying platform Juhuasuan drew 300 million new customers during 6.18.
• Lower-tier cities (tier 3 and below) have become the main growth driver for 6.18 sales, with Pinduoduo reporting 70% of sales came from tier 3 and below cities.