[Economic Observation] This year's "618", looking forward to a win-win situation for consumers, merchants, and platforms

　　There are still 20 days before the "618" mid-year promotion "normal day", but the major e-commerce platforms are already gearing up and ready to show their skills.

　　On May 23, JD.com's "618" was officially launched.

On the same day, Pinduoduo, Suning.com, and Vipshop also started big promotions, officially kicking off this year's "618" shopping festival.

Then, on May 26, Tmall "618" pre-sale started.

　　Since the beginning of this year, the epidemic has repeatedly caused the supply chain to be insufficient, the willingness of residents to consume has declined, and the pressure on merchants' inventory has continued to increase.

In this context, people have more expectations for "618", not only concerned about how many discounts the platform's new "playing methods" can bring to consumers, but also how the platform can help businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses.

　　Industry insiders pointed out that this year's "618" "play" mainly focuses on selecting good products, extending consumption scenarios, increasing discounts, and upgrading shopping experience, which is expected to release the backlog of consumer demand.

　　"In the context of normalization of epidemic prevention, consumers' needs for big promotions are more focused and rational: they are not blindly pursuing low prices, but a balance between quality and price; they do not mind paying for upgraded consumer goods, but they will also abandon Some unnecessary demands; especially in consumption decisions, while pursuing higher quality and higher efficiency, the platform must speak with good products." Zhang Yuang, general manager of "618" activities, introduced that during this year's "618" period, It will push the high-quality grass planting content, selected lists, shopping strategies, etc. on the site to users on other platforms to help consumers across the network share good products.

　　In terms of the extension of consumption scenarios, this year's "618", some platforms continued to create "online and offline" full-scenario services.

For example, Intime Department Store has fully launched a new retail model, realizing omni-channel purchases such as the online Miaojie APP, the "Intime Department Store INTIME" WeChat applet, and the "Intime Department Store" Alipay applet, and the content and intensity of the activities are consistent.

　　In terms of discounts, this year's "618" major e-commerce platforms have intensified their activities, and some core cosmetic products have more discounts than last year.

For example, Pinduoduo has teamed up with more than 500 brand official flagship stores to launch a "brand special event" to provide users with discounts such as low prices on the entire network and 50% off for a limited time.

In addition, the platform will also distribute 3 billion yuan of red envelopes during the "618" period to bring more benefits to users.

　　In terms of shopping experience upgrades, many platforms have abandoned complicated preferential rules to make "buy, buy, buy" simpler.

For example, Vipshop said that this year's "618" will focus on improving the shopping experience of users, simplify the preferential rules, and launch exclusive prices + red envelopes for single products.

　　It is worth mentioning that in the first half of this year, due to the impact of the epidemic, many merchants were under pressure on sales, and they urgently needed relief and relief to tide over the difficulties.

To this end, many platforms have increased their assistance to merchants, hoping that they can get the opportunity to return to blood in "618".

　　For example, in this year's "618", Suning.com will reduce the cost of customer acquisition for merchants through fee reduction support policies in advertising, traffic acquisition, user growth and other modules; take advantage of dual-line advantages, expand traffic channels and expand traffic by combining with external user platforms Pool; use live broadcast, short video, list recommendation, interactive gameplay and other means to empower merchants to acquire private domain traffic and store operations; fully open marketing tools such as digital intelligence to accurately match user needs and improve operational efficiency.

　　Looking forward to this year's "618", it will achieve a win-win situation for consumers, merchants, and platforms. Consumers can buy good products at better prices on the platform, merchants can get the support of the platform, and the products can get a chance to breathe, and the platform can be established. A healthy ecology that is closely dependent on consumers and businesses, thereby better promoting the release of consumption potential.

　　(This Newspaper, Beijing, May 29th)

　　Yang Zhaokui