Slower Sales at China's Midyear Shopping Festival Signals Consumption Weakness

Dow Jones13:28

By Tracy Qu

Sales at China's second-largest shopping festival of the year slowed, signaling persistent weakness in domestic consumption.

During the 618 shopping event, which ran from May 13 to June 18, online sales rose 4.0% from a year earlier to 934.0 billion yuan, equivalent to $137.86 billion, according to data provider Syntun's official WeChat account on Tuesday. That marked a sharp slowdown from the 15% growth recorded during last year's festival.

Sales in the on-demand delivery category increased more than 110% year-on-year, while sales via traditional e-commerce grew just 0.9%. Both Alibaba and JD.com have invested heavily in food delivery businesses in recent quarters.

The annual 618 shopping event, which commemorates the founding anniversary of online-shopping company JD.com, ranks as the nation's second-largest shopping event after the Singles' Day extravaganza held by rival Alibaba.

Consumer interest in such events has waned, partly because e-commerce platforms now host multiple promotional campaigns throughout the year.

None of those companies disclosed total sales figures for the event. JD.com said the number of users who placed orders on its platform during the festival reached a record high.

Alibaba's Tmall ranked the first in Syntun's ranking of 618 sales, followed by JD.com and ByteDance's Douyin platform.

China's retail sales declined 0.6% in May, the first such drop since December 2022, according to official data released earlier this month.

Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 23, 2026 01:28 ET (05:28 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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That marked a sharp slowdown from the 15% growth recorded during last year's festival. \n</p>\n<p>\n  Sales in the on-demand delivery category increased more than 110% year-on-year, while sales via traditional e-commerce grew just 0.9%. Both Alibaba and JD.com have invested heavily in food delivery businesses in recent quarters. \n</p>\n<p>\n  The annual 618 shopping event, which commemorates the founding anniversary of online-shopping company JD.com, ranks as the nation's second-largest shopping event after the Singles' Day extravaganza held by rival Alibaba. \n</p>\n<p>\n  Consumer interest in such events has waned, partly because e-commerce platforms now host multiple promotional campaigns throughout the year. \n</p>\n<p>\n  None of those companies disclosed total sales figures for the event. JD.com said the number of users who placed orders on its platform during the festival reached a record high. \n</p>\n<p>\n  Alibaba's Tmall ranked the first in Syntun's ranking of 618 sales, followed by JD.com and ByteDance's Douyin platform. \n</p>\n<p>\n  China's retail sales declined 0.6% in May, the first such drop since December 2022, according to official data released earlier this month. \n</p>\n<pre style=\"white-space: pre\">\n \n</pre>\n<p>\n  Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com \n</p>\n<pre style=\"white-space: pre\">\n \n</pre>\n<p>\n  (END) Dow Jones Newswires\n</p>\n<p>\n  June 23, 2026 01:28 ET (05:28 GMT)\n</p>\n<p>\n  Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones &amp; Company, Inc.\n</p>\n</font>","source":null,"html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Slower Sales at China's Midyear Shopping Festival Signals Consumption Weakness</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nSlower Sales at China's Midyear Shopping Festival Signals Consumption Weakness\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n<div class=\"head\" \">\n\n\n<div class=\"h-thumb\" style=\"background-image:url(https://static.tigerbbs.com/150f88aa4d182df19190059f4a365e99);background-size:cover;\"></div>\n\n<div class=\"h-content\">\n<p class=\"h-name\">Dow Jones </p>\n<p class=\"h-time\">2026-06-23 13:28</p>\n</div>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<font class=\"NormalMinus1\" face=\"Arial\">\n<pre style=\"white-space: pre\">\n \n</pre>\n<p>\n  By Tracy Qu \n</p>\n<pre style=\"white-space: pre\">\n \n</pre>\n<p>\n  Sales at China's second-largest shopping festival of the year slowed, signaling persistent weakness in domestic consumption. \n</p>\n<p>\n  During the 618 shopping event, which ran from May 13 to June 18, online sales rose 4.0% from a year earlier to 934.0 billion yuan, equivalent to $137.86 billion, according to data provider Syntun's official WeChat account on Tuesday. 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That marked a sharp slowdown from the 15% growth recorded during last year's festival.Sales in the on-demand delivery category increased more than 110% year-on-year, while sales via traditional e-commerce grew just 0.9%. Both Alibaba and JD.com have invested heavily in food delivery businesses in recent quarters.The annual 618 shopping event, which commemorates the founding anniversary of online-shopping company JD.com, ranks as the nation's second-largest shopping event after the Singles' Day extravaganza held by rival Alibaba.Consumer interest in such events has waned, partly because e-commerce platforms now host multiple promotiona","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"LU0797268264.HKD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"AT\" (HKD) ACC","LU2148611432.USD":"AZ ALLOCATION BALANCED BRAVE \"AAZ\" (USDHDG) ACC","LU1242518931.SGD":"Fullerton Lux Funds - Asia Absolute Alpha A Acc SGD","LU1515016050.SGD":"Blackrock Emerging Markets Equity Income A6 SGD-H","LU0072462343.USD":"贝莱德亚洲巨龙基金","KBAB":"2倍做多BABA ETF-KraneShares","LU0456842615.SGD":"JPMorgan Funds - Emerging Markets Equity A (acc) SGD","LU0072913022.USD":"UBS (LUX) EQUITY FUND -  GREATER CHINA \"P\" (USD) ACC","LU0553294199.USD":"BGF GLOBAL EQUITY INCOME \"A5G\" (USD) INC","BK4575":"芯片概念","LU1105468828.SGD":"Allianz Total Return Asian Equity AM DIS H2-SGD","BK4503":"景林资产持仓","BK4543":"AI","LU0918141887.USD":"安联亚洲实际收益股票基金","BK4534":"瑞士信贷持仓","LU1769817096.USD":"UBS (LUX) EQUITY SICAV - GLOBAL EMERG MARKETS OPPO \"P\" (USD) INC","LU0348814723.USD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"A\" (USD) INC  NC","BK4526":"热门中概股","LU0106959298.USD":"UBS (LUX) EQUITY FUND - EMERGING MARKETS SUSTAINABLE LEADERS (USD) \"P\" (USD) ACC","BABO":"BABA期权收益策略ETF-YieldMax","IE00BFMHRM44.USD":"NEUBERGER BERMAN GLOBAL EQUITY MEGATRENDS \"A\" (USD) ACC","BABU":"Direxion Daily BABA Bull 2X ETF","LU1046422090.SGD":"Fidelity Pacific A-SGD","LU0251143458.SGD":"Fidelity Emerging Markets A-SGD","BBYY":"GraniteShares YieldBOOST BABA ETF","BABW":"Roundhill BABA WeeklyPay ETF","LU1046421795.USD":"富达环球科技A-ACC","BK4502":"阿里概念","LU0128525689.USD":"TEMPLETON GLOBAL BALANCED \"A\"(USD) ACC","BK4587":"ChatGPT概念","BK4220":"综合零售","BK4579":"人工智能","BABX":"2倍做多BABA ETF-GraniteShares","BK4524":"宅经济概念","LU0047713382.USD":"BGF EMERGING MARKETS \"A2\" ACC","LU1823568750.SGD":"Fidelity Global Technology A-ACC SGD","LU0501845795.SGD":"瑞银大中华区股票基金P Acc SGD","BK4535":"淡马锡持仓","BABA":"阿里巴巴","BK4504":"桥水持仓","LU2226246903.HKD":"ALLIANZ TOTAL RETURN ASIAN EQUITY \"AT4\" (HKD) ACC","LU1152091754.HKD":"UBS (LUX) EQUITY FUND - CHINA OPPORTUNITY (USD) \"PM\" (HKD) INC","LU1880383366.USD":"东方汇理中国股票基金 A2 (C)","LU1048588211.SGD":"Blackrock Asian Dragon A2 SGD-H","BK4607":"DeepSeek概念股","BK4588":"碎股","BK4614":"Manus概念股","LU0979878070.USD":"FULLERTON LUX FUNDS - ASIA ABSOLUTE ALPHA \"A\" (USD) ACC","BK4558":"双十一","LU0949170772.SGD":"Blackrock Global Equity Income A6 SGD-H"},"translate_title":"中国年中购物节销售放缓表明消费疲软","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":"https://static.tigerbbs.com/9237a94714547df278a8e2cba985a0f6","symbols_score_info":{"BABX":0.6,"BABU":0.6,"BABW":0.6,"BBYY":0.6,"KBAB":0.6,"BABO":0.6,"BABA":0.85},"content_text":"By Tracy Qu \n\n\n \n\n\n  Sales at China's second-largest shopping festival of the year slowed, signaling persistent weakness in domestic consumption. \n\n\n  During the 618 shopping event, which ran from May 13 to June 18, online sales rose 4.0% from a year earlier to 934.0 billion yuan, equivalent to $137.86 billion, according to data provider Syntun's official WeChat account on Tuesday. That marked a sharp slowdown from the 15% growth recorded during last year's festival. \n\n\n  Sales in the on-demand delivery category increased more than 110% year-on-year, while sales via traditional e-commerce grew just 0.9%. Both Alibaba and JD.com have invested heavily in food delivery businesses in recent quarters. \n\n\n  The annual 618 shopping event, which commemorates the founding anniversary of online-shopping company JD.com, ranks as the nation's second-largest shopping event after the Singles' Day extravaganza held by rival Alibaba. \n\n\n  Consumer interest in such events has waned, partly because e-commerce platforms now host multiple promotional campaigns throughout the year. \n\n\n  None of those companies disclosed total sales figures for the event. JD.com said the number of users who placed orders on its platform during the festival reached a record high. \n\n\n  Alibaba's Tmall ranked the first in Syntun's ranking of 618 sales, followed by JD.com and ByteDance's Douyin platform. \n\n\n  China's retail sales declined 0.6% in May, the first such drop since December 2022, according to official data released earlier this month. \n\n\n \n\n\n  Write to Tracy Qu at tracy.qu@wsj.com \n\n\n \n\n\n  (END) Dow Jones Newswires\n\n\n  June 23, 2026 01:28 ET (05:28 GMT)\n\n\n  Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"isVideo":false,"video":null,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":true,"need_login_tip":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"isLaohu8Offline":false,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.44.0","shortVersion":"4.44.0","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2645001460","isCrawlerRequest":true}