June 18 shopping festival: How to reach 1 billion Chinese e-consumers?
Image from: https://www.eastwestbank.com/ReachFurther/News/Article/Singles-Day-Purchasing-Power-And-E-Commerce-Love
If you want to access China's largest e-commerce market, the first thing you need to be aware of is China's online shopping festivals. You may have heard of Alibaba's very successful 11-11 festival, which is two and a half times bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
However, that's not only what the Chinese market can offer. More and more e-commerce platforms have created their festivals to attract customers and boost sales.
Starting from last week, Chinese internet users have been overwhelmed by online promotions promising them a share of billions of RMB in vouchers, and refund offers if they find a better price on another e-commerce platform. All this is part of the "618" shopping festival.
What is it all about? And how can your brand use this shopping festival to sell to customers in China?
What is the “618” shopping festival?
“618” shopping festival was created in 1998 by JD, the second-largest e-commerce platform in China after Alibaba. The platform has decided to promote its anniversary on the 18th of June each year. That’s how the “618” has become a huge shopping festival adopted by all major Chinese e-commerce platforms seeking to protect their shares of customers.
How big is the “618” shopping festival?
In 2020, the 618 generated a total turnover of 698.2 billion yuan ($98.49 billion).
In 2020, the "618", recorded a total of 26.18 billion transactions, an increase of 52% compared to 2019, according to the NUCC.
In the first hour of the morning of the 18th, the turnover increased by 100% compared to the previous year.
The number of orders placed in 2020 increased by 33,6% year-on-year.
100,000 merchants registered to participate in Tmall's "618" promotion, the volume of goods sold on that day have reached 10 million.
The volume of orders on the Pinduoduo platform increased by 119% compared to last year. Since the launch of the "618" promotion, the platform has sold 380 million orders for agricultural products, an increase of 136% compared to the same period last year.
The total amount of transactions of the major e-commerce platforms in 2020 on the “618” festival witnessed strong growth, reaching 41.3%.
“618” of 2021: a special festival amid the Covid-19?
Can the "618" festival boost consumption and the economy in this difficult period? The answer is yes!
The epidemic has affected all aspects of society, just as everywhere businesses have suffered damage and are looking forward to 618, "a key battle", either to turn the tide or to ensure their growth.
And all the figures of “618” of 2021 beat all the records:
This year, a total of 250,000 brands participate in this year’s “Tmall 618”, which is 2.5 times that of last year. A total of 13 million products will participate in offering discounts, of which 1.4 million are new products.
Beyond the numbers, for this year's “Tmall 618”, Alibaba is making this e-commerce festival a new way to "party", boosting the recovery of domestic consumption, promoting the potential of Chinese customers’ demand, and bringing the greatest growth opportunity for brands.
As for Chinese cities, they have issued billions of electronic coupons to stimulate consumption.
For many merchants, participation in the 618 promotion was previously an engine of growth; but today amid the Covid-19, it is more about "saving lives”.
What do Chinese e-consumers look for in 2021?
This year’s most popular categories included food, electronics, fashion, beauty, and household daily-use consumables. Chinese shoppers love special promotions and sales, not to mention luxury brands and quality Western products, such as the “Made in France” or “Made in Germany”, which means that these shopping festivals offer the perfect opportunity for Western brands to grow their sales in China, develop brand recognition and begin to grow their Chinese consumer portfolio.
How can European merchants benefit from 618 in 2021?
BALLY, John Lobb, Starbucks, AGV helmets, Decathlon, and other well-known brands are participating in this year’s 618 shopping festival. In this part, we are going to discuss methods that allow European merchants to participate in the second-biggest shopping festival in the world.
Sell on Chinese social media:
Chinese love spending time on social media. It has become a part of daily life. Chinese social media platforms don’t only allow users to send texts or share pictures but also to get access to all the daily life necessities, including shopping.
A good strategy involves creating official accounts on the most popular Chinese social media (Weibo and WeChat…).
The creation of an official WeChat account allows visitors to obtain important information more easily. It also allows European merchants to sell directly to their Chinese customers via social commerce.
Sell on mini-programs
The mini-programs are essentially sub-applications integrated into the WeChat ecosystem. They are built as Web pages that can be accessed directly from WeChat. They do not require downloads or installation.
WeChat mini-programs can be used to search for information, read articles, watch streaming videos, play video games or shop online. Users can enjoy all these features without ever leaving WeChat.
Mini-programs allow companies to build "Mini-apps" that deliver a seamless user experience within WeChat. As a result, since their launch, the mini-programs have known unprecedented success. They allow brands to develop their reputation in China, gain the trust of Chinese consumers, and develop cross-border sales directly.
Learn more about mini-programs in our guide.
Create your campaign
Merchants can create a special campaign targeted for the festival, bearing in mind that your target customers are likely to be swayed by incentives such as deep discounting, limited-edition releases, or ‘free’ gifts with their purchase.
Being creative and doing your research carefully is the key to ensure that the special offer you create will resonate with your target market. You will need to consider which channels you will use for an integrated campaign, and create Chinese language content, rather than translating it from existing Western materials. This means delivering careful translation which meets all needs, including socio-cultural factors and government censorship requirements.
Sell through KOL (Key Opinion Leaders) or influencers
Chinese Internet users are much more active online than Europeans because they quickly took the turn of the mobile revolution. They are passionate about community, sharing, and social connection. When browsing the Internet, the Chinese want to consume mainly entertaining and playful content, hence the dazzling success of video-sharing platforms.
In Europe, consumers are 5 times more likely to buy a recommended product through social media rather than traditional marketing techniques. And Chinese consumers are no exception to this rule! They are even more receptive to influencer marketing on the web.
The biggest Chinese social networks like WeChat, Weibo and now live-streaming platforms like Douyin, have quickly integrated the daily lives of Chinese internet users who have proven to be the most active in the world. WeChat alone has 1 billion users. A WeChat user visits their feed on average 10 times a day. A very favorable ground for digital influencers.
Sell thanks to the Chinese preferred payment methods
The magic of selling via Alipay – WeChat Pay – UnionPay
Once you have the Chinese mobile payment solutions AliPay and WeChat Pay integrated, which are used by all the Chinese, you would be labeled as "Chinese-friendly" and thus able to draw their attention. Silkpay, as an intermediate of Alipay and WeChat Pay in Europe, would be your ideal partner to embark on a discovery together with your potential Chinese customers.
How can Silkpay help you?
The trick lies in careful strategy planning, a deep understanding of the Chinese audience as well as your target audience, creative digital marketing, and the expert management of the right channels. This where our role comes. As a marketing expert in the Chinese market, Silkpay can:
Create and manage your social media accounts (Weibo, WeChat)
Create adapted campaigns for your brand
Create adapted mini-programs for your brand. We will connect your mini-program to all payment methods of your choice to allow you to accept payments from a large customer base. Silkpay offers the acceptance of Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard as well as about twenty other payment methods in the mini-programs
Open an Alipay, WeChat Pay, or UnionPay accounts without opening or maintenance fees and commitment
Our very large KOL's (Key Opinion Leaders) catalog will allow you to choose the influencers who are most suitable for your activity
Thanks to our experienced copywriting teams, Silkpay will help you distribute clean and relevant content for your brand