Source: CHEAA-run China Appliance magazine

This year’s 618 shopping festival was low-key and lackluster compared to the previous years and was called the hardest 618 in history.

Performance reports from ecommerce platforms

This year’s 618 sales reports are not much. At press time, only JD.com released its overall sales value while Suning.com, Pinduoduo, Tmall and Gome only unveiled some highlights. As of 23:59 on June 18th Beijing time, JD.com reported a total transaction volume of RMB 379.3 billion yuan for 2022 JD618 Grand Promotion, which exceeds last year’s RMB 343.8 billion yuan.

Pinduoduo reported a 103% rise of home appliance sales starting from May 23 when the 618 campaign was launched on the platform. It’s worth noting that the number of official flagship stores of home appliance brands at home and abroad on the platform rose 182% YoY while the number of home appliance goods grew 264% YoY for the same period.

At Gome’s online platform and offline stores, sales of refrigerators and washing machines, sales of air conditioners, and sales of kitchen and bathroom appliances topped the list by value, while sales of air conditioners and sales of refrigerators and washing machines ranked the first and the third place respectively by sales volume. It is learned that the combined sales of air conditioners from Gome’s online platform and offline stores exceeded 280,000 units with the combined sales value exceeding 310 million Yuan.

Tmall did not release its report at press time but reports from other sources shed some light on its sales performance, showing that the pre-sales on Tmall were good but its overall sales were relatively plain.

Performance of home appliance brands

Home appliance brands unveiled some highlights.

Haier Smart Home saw a 23% rise of 618 sales as of 24:00 on June 18, with sales of refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters and freezers taking the largest online market share, according to Haier.

Midea saw its total online sales during the 618 shopping festival ranked first for the 10th consecutive years, according to Midea.

Gree saw its air conditioner sales topped the list by sales value on both JD.com and Tmall, of which sales of fresh air models (models with air ventilation function) on Tmall reached 12.82 million Yuan, according to Gree.

Categories with strong sales

Large appliances including refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners stood out with strong sales during the 618 shopping festival. Gome unveiled that the combined sales value of refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners reached 0.44 billion Yuan, of which Midea, Gree and Haier stood out in sales of air conditioners, Siemens and Haier stood out in sales of refrigerators, while Little Swan, Casarte and Haier each had one model on the list of the top 3 best-selling washing machines.

New brands and new categories become highlights of consumption at this year’s 618 shopping festival. Sales data from Suning.com showed that, life appliance brands such as Dyson, Roborock, Tineco, Ecovacs and Narwal were popular among Gen Z consumers with sales of air fryers and wet dry vacuum cleaners up 170% and 58% YoY respectively. Driven by young consumers’ interests in cooking, camping and organizing, some new portable appliances gained traction with sales of electric pressure cookers four times that of last year, sealing machines up 162% YoY and barbecue ovens up 51% YoY. Plus, as with the rise of consumers’ awareness of a healthy lifestyle, fruit and vegetable washing machines, dust mite controllers and chopstick sterilizers rose 179%, 46% and 23% YoY respectively in sales.

The “lazy economy” also acts as a driving force of consumption. At Tmall, sales of smart toilet seats, dish washers and wet dry vacuum cleaners were strong during the 618 shopping festival, showing a new trend of consumption.

It’s worth noting that healthcare and massage appliances have been popular in recent years as consumers’ healthcare awareness grows. Ogawa, Breo, Aux, Rotai and SKG posted strong sales during this year’s 618 shopping festival.

Plus, smart portable appliances also sold in large numbers at JD.com, Gome and Tmall, pointing to consumers’ interests in a better, smarter lifestyle.

Highlights

The highlights of this year’s 618 shopping festival are mid and high-end products such as new products and home appliance packages.

At JD.com, the combined transaction volume of new products and mid and high-end home appliances were five times that of last year during the 618 shopping festival, the combined transaction volume of home appliance packages twice that of last year, and the average price of home appliances sold at the platform rose 30% YoY, according to JD.com.

Suning.com reported a rise of 103% YoY of appliance package orders of 70,000 Yuan or more sold in its offline stores, and a three-time rise of package orders of 300,000 Yuan or more YoY, and a 257% rise of sales of popular appliance packages YoY.

Reports from home appliance brands also attest to the trend. Haier reported a 66.3% rise of appliance packages in sales during the 618 shopping festival, accounting for 55.9%. Midea reported a 22% rise of its average transaction value, and a 16% rise of consumers who buy packages. Hisense reported a rise of 208% YoY in the transaction volume of new products, and a 280% rise of the sales value of its mid and high-end smart appliance packages.

The recovery of in-store sales

It’s worth noting that there has been a significant change in sales channels this year.

While live-streaming sales lose its charm during this 618 shopping festival, sales from stores recovered. Fueled by subsidies and discounts, Suning.com saw the consumer traffic of its offline stores rose by three times compared to last year, and offline sales of high-end appliances rose 182% YoY. Gome saw its combined sales value from offline stores up 38% YoY from June 1-15, and a rise of 20% YoY in daily consumer traffic during the Dragon Boat Festival.