Alibaba, JD.com and ByteDance prepare for 618 shopping festival next week amid price war

Alibaba, JD.com, and ByteDance’s Douyin will start promotions on Tuesday, as e-commerce giants fight for a slice of limited consumer spending

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JD.com started 618 as a one-day event in 2004, and now it is one of China’s biggest shopping events spanning multiple weeks. Photo: Getty Images

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 8:00pm, 8 May 2025

Alibaba Group Holding, JD.com and ByteDance’s Douyin are preparing their campaigns for 618, China’s second-largest online shopping festival, as major e-commerce players gear up for battle in a nationwide price war amid weak consumer spending.

The three companies each announced they would start discounts next week for the event, which now spans weeks but retains its original June 18 name. Taobao and Tmall Group (TTG), Alibaba’s domestic e-commerce unit, said the first stage of its 618 sales would begin Tuesday evening and run through May 26, with a three-day presale period followed by 10 days of direct sales. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

JD.com said in a post on WeChat that it would start a preliminary sales on Tuesday at 8pm, with direct sales beginning on May 31.

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, will get an earlier start, with sales beginning at 12am on Tuesday, the company said. It promised to invest “hundreds of millions in cash subsidies”, according to Chinese media reports.

The event, which JD initiated in 2004 as a simple promotional activity, has evolved into one of China’s major annual sales events, which sees e-commerce firms compete with steep discounts and subsidies.

TTG said on Thursday that it intended to simplify discount rules this year. Consumers have in the past complained about the growing complexity of sales campaigns. TTG said it would offer just one “official instant discount” ranging from 15 per cent to 50 per cent. The unit has not specified the event’s end date this year.