Taobao and Tmall Group (“Taobao and Tmall”), Alibaba Group’s China commerce business, is kicking off the “2024 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festival” today. Driven by its user-first strategy, Taobao and Tmall is simplifying the shopping experience for consumers during this campaign so they can easily take advantage of direct discounts and over RMB15 billion worth of vouchers,while supporting merchants through comprehensive efficiency-enhancement initiatives that include a record-breaking RMB200 billion rapid settlement program.
These initiatives reflect the platforms’ strategic priority to invest in user experience. Eddie Wu, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group and Taobao and Tmall Group, defined 2024 as a year of comprehensive capability upgrades for Taobao and Tmall and a year of significant investment.
For Consumers: A Streamlined and Enhanced Shopping Experience
This year’s event will include two sales periods, from 8pm Beijing time on May 20 to May 28, and from 8pm on May 31 to June 20, respectively. Instead of pre-sale periods, this year’s sales periods will now exclusively feature ready-to-ship items, shortening consumers’ wait time between placing and receiving their orders.
The campaign will also feature greater price competitiveness that will be clear and easily accessible for consumers, including over RMB10 billion coupons to more than 35 million 88VIP members and over RMB5 billion coupons for livestreaming rewards, specific categories, and virtual sales venues. Furthermore, the “50% off-everything” virtual sale venue will offer millions of products, in addition to the 15% off sales venue and the “RMB50 off every RMB300 spent” deal.
The Taobao and Tmall Group also upgraded the price guarantee feature for this year’s 6.18, allowing Tmall consumers to easily price match and receive a refund on price differences until July 5. 88VIP members also enjoy additional user-friendly return services that enable “hassle-free” shopping.
For Merchants: Largest-Ever Rapid Settlement Program and Free AI Tools
Taobao and Tmall is also launching unprecedented merchant financing and logistics support. It has allocated over RMB200 billion – the highest in its 6.18 history – for a rapid settlement program for eligible merchants, ensuring prompt payments upon product shipment. This initiative alleviates cash flow pressure for merchants, especially small and medium enterprises. Taobao and Tmall is partnering with Cainiao and Ant Group to provide logistics subsidies and shipping insurance deals. It is also collaborating with over 200 external platforms to further boost consumer traffic for merchants.
More than ten AI tools are available to all merchants on Taobao and Tmall. In the lead-up to the Festival, the platform has granted all merchants free access to its market insight monitor “Business Advisor” and smart customer service chatbot Ali Xiaomi (Ali Assistant). Merchants will also have free access to other AI-powered tools to optimize operations, generate visuals for product listings, and improve marketing efficiency.
