When the 618 World War started, Taobao, Jingdong and Tiktok had "new ideas"?
When the 618 World War started, Taobao, Jingdong and Tiktok had "new ideas"?
Retail Business Review
·May 20, 2025 20:36
What are the differences of 618 in 2025?
This year's 618 promotion has already begun, and platforms are no longer promoting the "lowest price across the entire network" in a high-profile manner. Instead, they are quietly infiltrating consumers' daily shopping scenes with simplified gameplay such as "instant discounts" and "subsidy stacking". Compared to previous years, this year's 618 promotion has lost some sense of urgency in competition, and trends such as open cooperation, simplified operations, and emphasis on technology have become mainstream.
From the perspective of consumer heat, according to star chart data, last year's 618 sales fell by 7% for the first time in 16 years, indicating the rise of consumer rationalism. With promotional nodes as dense as a calendar, the traditional big promotion model has reached a critical point where it must be restructured. The 618 shopping festival in 2025 is no longer a simple GMV sprint, but a test of the comprehensive evolution of the e-commerce ecosystem.
Platform strategy differentiation, from "low price" to "cost-effectiveness"
This year's 618 shopping festival, Taobao and Tmall started the race. The Tmall 618 platform completely abandons the cross store full discount rule that has been used for many years, and instead adopts a direct discount model of "official instant discount starting from 15%". Consumers can enjoy discounts without having to make a purchase, and can stack 88VIP large consumption vouchers, industry category vouchers, and national subsidies.
The latest data shows that in the first hour of sales on May 16th, 43 brands sold over 100 million yuan, and beauty brands such as L'Oreal and Lanc ô me sold over 100 million yuan within 10 minutes. The 3C category of home appliances achieved explosive growth under the combination of "national subsidies+immediate reductions".
On the other hand, JD.com has continued its full discount policy, but its strategy has shifted from a simple price war to a combination of "low price+service". For the first time, the integration of national subsidies and multi billion yuan subsidies for food delivery has formed a synergistic effect of "additional subsidies on top of subsidies". On the "National Subsidy x Billion Subsidy" channel on JD.com, consumers can save up to 2000 yuan when purchasing consumer goods such as mobile phones, digital devices, home appliances, etc., and can also enjoy up to 24 installments of interest free coupons. The server has launched promises such as "24-hour fast installation" and "replacement only, no repair" in an attempt to lock in mid to high end users with supply chain advantages.
Meanwhile, JD.com has also chosen to extend the battlefield offline. During the 618 shopping festival, tens of thousands of JD self operated or managed stores, as well as millions of offline cooperative stores connected to JD's supply chain nationwide, will participate, with the aim of providing consumers with an integrated online and offline experience. The first catering physical infrastructure built by JD.com, "Seven Fresh Food MALL", will also officially debut in Harbin on June 18th, and join hands with ten popular catering brands to open the first store in Harbin.
Tiktok's 618 also started on May 13 and lasted until June 18. It was divided into three stages, namely, the rush period, the power accumulation period and the outbreak period. It continued the previous core play methods, such as "reduction of discount" and "drop of one piece". Tiktok tilted its resources to shelf scenes and store broadcasts, and launched policies such as "free commission for commodity cards" and "ten thousand people group" to try to convert content traffic into stable transaction increments.
Look at Kwai again. This year's Kwai e-commerce 618 promotion will cover 520 and 618 time nodes. The promotional methods for consumers include cross store discounts, coupons, free lottery draws, password red envelopes, etc.
On May 19, Kwai E-commerce released the first day of Kwai 618 Shopping Festival, and GMV across the region maintained rapid growth. During the 618 shopping festival, users demonstrated strong purchasing power. On the first day of success, 277 products with a transaction volume exceeding one million yuan were sold, and the GMV of high priced products with a transaction volume of over one thousand yuan increased by 786% year-on-year. The growth of merchants is remarkable, with a 300% year-on-year increase in merchants with GMV transactions exceeding 10 million and a 100% year-on-year increase in merchants with GMV transactions exceeding 100 million. Industries such as tea and liquor health, jewelry and jade, and consumer electronics and home furnishings have shown outstanding performance.
We have observed that the strategy differentiation through the 618 platform reflects industry consensus, and pure price stimulation has reached its ceiling. Taotian is doing subtraction to improve transaction efficiency, JD.com is strengthening its supply chain to build differentiated barriers, and content platforms are seeking growth opportunities through ecological integration. This marks that e-commerce platforms have entered a new stage of competition.
There are new changes in live streaming e-commerce and content e-commerce
In this year's 618 live broadcast e-commerce and content e-commerce, Taobao Live, JD and Kwai have spontaneously proposed 2 billion cash subsidies, as well as a large number of business flow subsidies.
For example, JD.com will heavily subsidize 2 billion yuan in cash during the 618 shopping festival to focus on promoting the "Beijing Innovation Double Hundred Plan" for live streaming short videos. Taobao Live also directly proposed to invest 2 billion yuan in cash during the 618 shopping festival to subsidize consumers, products, and hosts. And Kwai. According to the investment promotion conference, the platform will provide 100 billion traffic and 2 billion subsidies to encourage more anchors and accounts to participate in live broadcast and content creation.
But this year's 618, the return of top anchors and the rise of in store broadcasting form a delicate balance. On Taobao Live, Li Jiaqi's live streaming room is still a phenomenon level existence. On May 13, the first live broadcast of GMV reached 2.5-35 billion yuan. The sales of domestic brands such as Fumei and Pelaya accounted for the top 5. The sales of Fumei collagen rod sets exceeded 250000, and the sales of Pelaya anti essence exceeded 100000. The first hour purchase of GMV in the broadcast room increased by 10% year-on-year. Confirming the sustained influence of the "super head effect" in the field of beauty and other standard products.
Shop broadcasting is also continuing to rise. Tiktok data shows that in 2024, the proportion of GMV broadcast in Tiktok stores will exceed 70%, and the contribution of top talent will drop to 9%. lululemon、 Brands such as Xiuli Ke have achieved triple digit growth through self broadcasting, combining professional anchors with brand endorsements. Behind this change is the adjustment of the platform's traffic distribution mechanism - Tiktok's traffic preference policy for store broadcast, which gradually frees the brand from dependence on top talent.
And content e-commerce is also increasing interconnectivity. For example, before the 618 shopping festival, Taobao and Xiaohongshu were deeply linked through the "Red Cat Plan". Brands can directly attach Taobao links in Xiaohongshu notes, and users can directly jump to Taobao for purchases. Taobao and Tmall can also heat up and stream related grass planting notes on Xiaohongshu, attempting to improve conversion rates through a grass planting conversion loop. Data from the past year shows that Taobao and Tmall brand merchants have seen a 20% increase in click through rates and a 109% increase in interaction rates for their Xiaohongshu product notes. Among them, the daily average number of merchants participating in Taobao Tmall joint investment increased by 335% year-on-year.
Based on our observation, this year's 618 Super Anchor is still a hot selling engine, but with the efforts of store broadcasting matrix, AI technology, and more KOCs in vertical fields, traffic distribution has become more balanced.
618, AI sales are more accurate
This year's 618, the application of AI tools has also become a major highlight. For example, Alimama has launched AI crowd insight tools, including AI crowd insight, AI global new customer acquisition, and AI creative seeding, to help businesses efficiently acquire and operate consumers. In terms of crowd insight, merchants only need to input the crowd circle selection demands, and AI will generate crowd packages around the dimensions of crowd portrait and value, providing intelligent guidance for merchants' advertising. According to publicly available data, "AI circle people" have helped increase click through rates by about 20%, conversion rates by nearly 30%, and circle selection efficiency by 100%.
In response to the 618 shopping festival, JD.com has launched a new fashionable digital human image through its digital human live streaming service, and is offering free AI products to merchants, including innovative applications such as live digital humans, merchant customer service agents, short video generation, Jingdian Dian, and Jingmai AI assistants, covering the entire process of merchant operations, marketing, and services.
It is reported that JD Digital People can help businesses reduce the cost of live streaming to 1/10 of that of real people, and can continuously promote products 24/7. The promotion effect exceeds 80% of real anchors, and can increase the conversion rate of live streaming rooms by an average of 30%. At present, more than 10000 brands have used JD Digital Person Live, driving GMV growth of over 14 billion yuan.
With the implementation of AI tools, businesses can more accurately reach high marketing value users and achieve precise matching between goods and people, breaking through barriers and attracting new customers, becoming an important means for businesses to improve operational efficiency and seize consumer growth.
The battle between food delivery and instant retail continues until 618
We also pay special attention to the fact that during this year's 618 shopping festival, food delivery and instant retail have become new battlefields for platform competition. JD, Meituan, and Taobao (including Ele.me) have launched a "Three Kingdoms Kill" covering multiple categories such as catering, supermarkets, and digital home appliances through high-frequency subsidies.
At the JD 618 Surprise Open Day, JD announced that during the 618 period, JD's food delivery subsidy of billions of yuan will continue to increase, and consumers can receive a maximum discount of 61.8 yuan on orders. At the same time, JD's food delivery officially launched the "JD Super Food Delivery Day" activity, where customers can grab a cup of coffee or milk tea for 1.68 yuan on the 18th of each month. Discounted takeout that has been seized can be ordered and eaten immediately, or stored and delivered.
Taobao quickly entered the instant retail market by upgrading through "flash purchases" and deeply integrating with Ele.me. During the 618 shopping festival, the free order promotion for milk tea ignited traffic, with 1 million cups sent out on the first day. Brands such as Nayuki Tea and Kudi Coffee saw a surge in orders by over 200%, successfully attracting young users.
618 is also a test for Ele.me's entry into Taobao flash sales across all categories. Jiang Fan, CEO of Alibaba's e-commerce business group, previously emphasized that instant retail is the key to upgrading Taobao's user mindset. The short-term goal is to quickly convert existing users, while the long-term goal is to explore the possibility of integration with traditional e-commerce.
Instant retail is becoming a new engine of traffic for e-commerce platforms. The strategy of using high-frequency food delivery to drive 3C digital, home appliances, supermarkets and other products is reshaping the traditional e-commerce logic.
Retail Business Review believes that the 618 battle has evolved from a simple subsidy and online traffic competition to an efficiency competition across all channels, seeking incremental growth through real-time retail, content e-commerce, and AI e-commerce.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Retail Business Review" (ID: lssync), the author: Retail Business Review, 36 krypton is authorized to release.
The viewpoint of this article only represents the author himself, and the 36Kr platform only provides information storage space services.
618大战打响，淘宝、京东、抖音们有“新招”？
今年618大促已经打响，平台们不再高调宣传“全网最低价”，转而以“立减直降”、“补贴叠加”等简化玩法悄然渗透消费者的日常购物场景。相较往年，今年的618大促少了一些竞争的急迫感，开放合作、简化操作、强调技术等趋势成为了主流。
而从消费热度来看，根据星图数据揭示去年618销售额16年来首度下滑7%，也意味着消费理性主义崛起。随着促销节点密集如日历，传统大促模式已到必须重构的临界点。2025年的618，不再是一场简单的GMV冲刺赛，而是考验电商生态的全面进化。
平台战略分化，从“低价”到“性价比”
今年618，淘宝天猫抢跑开局。天猫618平台彻底放弃沿用多年的跨店满减规则，转而采用“官方立减15%起”的直降模式，消费者无需凑单即可享受折扣，并可叠加88VIP大额消费券、行业品类券及国家补贴。
最新数据显示，5月16日开售首小时，43个品牌成交破亿，珀莱雅、兰蔻等美妆品牌10分钟内销售额破亿，家电3C类目在“国补+立减”的叠加下实现爆发式增长。
另一面，京东延续了满减规则，但策略已从单纯价格战转向“低价+服务”组合拳。首次整合国家补贴与外卖百亿补贴资源，形成“补上加补”的叠加效应。在京东“国家补贴×百亿补贴”频道，消费者购买手机数码、家电家居等消费品，至高可省2000元，并可叠加享受白条至高24期分期免息。服务端则推出“24小时极速安装”、“只换不修”等承诺，试图以供应链优势锁定中高端用户。
同时，京东还选择了将战场向线下延伸。618期间，数万家京东自营或管理的门店，以及京东供应链接入的全国数百万家线下合作门店都将参与其中，目的是给消费者开启线上线下一体化的体验。京东打造的首家餐饮实体基础设施“七鲜美食MALL”，也将于6月18日在哈尔滨正式亮相，并携手十大网红餐饮品牌开设哈尔滨首店。
抖音的618同样选择5月13日启动，持续到6月18日结束，分为抢跑期、蓄力期、爆发期三阶段，延续了以往“立减折扣”和“一件直降”等核心玩法。抖音将资源倾斜至货架场景和店播，推出“商品卡免佣”“万人团”等政策，试图将内容流量转化为稳定的交易增量。
再看快手。今年快手电商618促销将覆盖520及618两大时间节点。针对消费者的优惠玩法包括，跨店满减、消费券、免单抽奖、口令红包等。
5月19日，快手电商发布快手618购物节开门红首日战报，全域GMV保持高速增长。用户在618期间展现出强劲的消费能力，开门红首日，成交破百万商品数达277个，千元以上高客单价商品GMV同比增长786%。商家增长瞩目，GMV成交破千万的商家同比增长300%，GMV成交破亿的商家同比增长100%，茶酒健康、珠宝玉石、消电家居等行业表现突出。
我们观察到，通过618平台的策略分化折射出行业共识，单纯价格刺激已触及天花板。淘天做减法提升交易效率，京东强化供应链构建差异化壁垒，内容平台则通过生态融合寻找增长机会，这标志着电商平台已进入新竞争阶段。
直播电商和内容电商，有新变化
在今年的618直播电商、内容电商领域，淘宝直播、京东、快手不约而同地提出了20亿现金补贴，以及大量商家流量补贴。
比如京东将在618期间大手笔现金补贴20亿元以重点推进直播短视频“京创双百计划” 。淘宝直播也直接提出将在618期间投入20亿现金，补贴给消费者、产品和主播。还有快手，据招商大会透露，平台将拿出千亿流量、20亿补贴，鼓励更多主播和账号参与直播和内容创作。
但今年618，头部主播的回归与店播的崛起形成微妙平衡。在淘宝直播，李佳琦直播间仍是现象级存在。5月13日首场直播GMV达25-35亿元，可复美、珀莱雅等国货品牌占据销量TOP5，可复美胶原棒套组售出25万件，珀莱雅双抗精华突破10万件，直播间首小时加购GMV同比增长10%。印证“超头效应”在美妆等标品领域的持续影响力。
店播也在持续崛起。抖音数据显示，2024年抖音店播GMV占比超70%，头部达人贡献降至9%。lululemon、修丽可等品牌通过自播实现三位数增长，专业主播+品牌背书的组合。这种转变背后，是平台流量分配机制的调整——抖音对店播的流量倾斜政策，让品牌逐渐摆脱对头部达人的依赖。
而内容电商也在加大互联互通。比如618前夕，淘宝与小红书深度联动—— “红猫计划”，品牌在小红书笔记中可直接挂载淘宝链接，用户可直接跳转淘宝购买，淘宝天猫也可在小红书上为相关种草笔记进行加热、投流，试图通过种草 - 转化闭环提升转化率。过去一年数据显示，淘宝天猫品牌商家整体在的小红书产品种草笔记点击率提升20%，互动率提升109%。其中，参与淘宝天猫联投的日均投放商家数，同比增长335%。
根据我们观察，这届618超头主播仍是爆款引擎，但随着店播矩阵、AI技术、更多垂直领域KOC的发力，让流量分配更趋均衡。
618，AI卖货更精准
今年的618，AI工具的应用也成为一大亮点。比如阿里妈妈推出AI人群洞察工具，包括AI人群洞察、AI全域拉新、AI创意种草，帮助商家高效获取和运营消费者。在人群洞察方面，商家仅需输入人群圈选诉求，AI会围绕人群画像维度和价值维度生成人群包，数智化指导商家投放。据公开数据，「AI圈人」助力人群点击率提升约20%，人群转化率提升近30%，圈选效率提升100%。
而针对此次618，京东的数字人直播也推出全新时尚数字人形象，并且面向商家免费开放AI产品，包括直播数字人、商家客服智能体、短视频生成、京点点、京麦AI助手等创新应用，覆盖商家运营、营销、服务全流程。
据了解，京东数字人能帮助商家把直播成本降低至真人的1/10，更能7×24小时不间断带货，带货效果超越80%真人主播，能平均提升直播间转化率30%。目前，已经有超过10000家品牌使用京东数字人直播，带动GMV增长超过140亿元。
随着AI工具的落地，商家能够更精准触达高营销价值用户，并实现货-人的精准匹配、破圈拉新，成为商家提升运营效率、抓住消费增长的重要手段。
外卖、即时零售大战烧到618
我们还特别关注到，今年的618期间，外卖与即时零售成为平台争夺的新战场。京东、美团、淘宝（含饿了么）三大巨头通过高频补贴掀起了一场覆盖餐饮、商超、数码家电等多品类的“三国杀”。
在京东618惊喜开放日上，京东宣布，618期间京东外卖百亿补贴将持续加码，消费者下单最高立减61.8元，同时，京东外卖正式推出“京东超级外卖日”活动，每月18日可抢1.68元一杯咖啡、奶茶。抢到的折扣外卖可以现点现吃，也可先囤后送。
淘宝则通过“闪购”升级与饿了么的深度整合，快速切入即时零售市场。618期间通过奶茶免单活动引爆流量，首日送出100万杯，奈雪的茶、库迪咖啡等品牌订单量暴涨超200%，成功吸引年轻用户。
618也是对饿了么全品类入驻淘宝闪购的考验。阿里电商事业群CEO蒋凡此前强调，即时零售是淘宝“用户心智升级”的关键，短期目标是快速转化存量用户，长期则探索与传统电商的融合可能性。
即时零售正成为电商平台流量新引擎。以高频外卖带动3C数码、家电、商超等商品的策略，正在重塑传统电商逻辑。
「零售商业评论」认为，618大战已经从单纯补贴、线上流量争夺战，升级到全渠道的效率竞争，通过即时零售、内容电商、AI电商多维寻找增量。
本文来自微信公众号 “零售商业评论”（ID：lssync），作者：零售商业评论，36氪经授权发布。
该文观点仅代表作者本人，36氪平台仅提供信息存储空间服务。