To put the size of 618 in perspective, top ecommerce players Alibaba and JD.com reported a respective RMB 498.2 billion ($72.2 billion) and RMB 271.5 billion ($39.3 billion) in sales from last year’s Singles’ Day, which took place over the first 11 days of November.
Consumer appetite aside, 618’s rising sales figure is partly due to how long the event itself has become. Some platforms have stretched the shopping window to nearly a month, from May 20 to June 18, with the days leading up to June generally dedicated to presale promotions.
The elongated period—in contrast to the 24-hour mad dash of past years—gives consumers time to plan out their purchases and explore new products and deals on various platforms. This also provides brands with opportunities to monitor results and adjust accordingly. A lengthier event also makes sense in the era of content-driven livestreaming commerce, given that a single livestream session could span hours.
With short-video apps building out ecommerce functionalities of their own, brands had a wider array of platforms to sell on during 618. ByteDance reported that the number of brands selling on Douyin (TikTok’s sister app) almost tripled this year. What’s more, new antitrust guidelines forbid China’s internet giants from requiring brands to sell exclusively on their marketplaces. This, along with Beijing’s antitrust crackdown in December, has given brands new freedom to be on any platform of their choosing.
Despite these developments, traditional ecommerce players continue to lead in 618 sales. Alibaba, JD.com, and group-buying giant Pinduoduo were the top three retailers at this year’s event, according to Syntun. Consumer electronics was the fastest-growing major product category on Alibaba’s Tmall from June 1 to June 18, 2021, per ecommerce data provider ECDataway. Meanwhile, on JD.com, sports and outdoor goods posted the highest sales growth during that time frame.