BEIJING, June 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The annual mid-year 618 shopping festival has drawn to a close. Compared with the hype and frenzy of previous years, this year’s campaign was far more subdued—not due to sluggish consumption, but as a marker of the retail industry’s shift toward maturity and rationality. All major platforms underwent strategic transformation this year, entirely scrapping complicated bundle purchases and tiered discount schemes in favor of a streamlined promotional model centered on “official direct price cuts and instant single-item discounts”, making discounts more transparent and straightforward for consumers.
Meanwhile, the full-scale integration of AI technology emerged as the standout highlight of this year’s 618 Shopping Festival, which industry insiders have dubbed “the first AI-native shopping festival”. AI has evolved from a supplementary e-commerce tool into the core engine powering platform operations and consumer decision-making, ushering the sector into a new era driven by intelligent technology. Alibaba launched the AI Wanxiang Engine integrated with the Qwen model to revamp user-product matching logic; JD.com leveraged its Jingxiaotong intelligent system to realize omnichannel operational intelligence; Douyin rolled out Qianchuan Chengfang and Kuaishou upgraded its Magnetic Jinniu marketing platform, with both deploying AI to help merchants cut costs and boost operational efficiency. All major platforms ramped up investment in AI infrastructure, shifting competition away from traditional price and traffic wars toward a contest of technological prowess and operational agility, propelling shopping festivals into a more efficient, intelligent and refined stage of development.
As a third-party data monitor, Syntun has consistently tracked and released “618” sales data to provide an impartial and objective perspective to the public.
According to Syntun, the Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) during the “618 Shopping Festival” (May 13th – June 18th) reached 934 billion CNY across online platforms, including E-commerce Platforms, Instant Delivery Platforms and Community Group Buying. E-commerce Platform GMV reached 863.6 billion CNY with Tmall ranking first. Meanwhile, Instant Delivery Platforms and Community Group Buying contributed GMV of 62.8 billion CNY and 7.6 billion CNY respectively.
For more information about 618 Shopping Festival, please click the link: (SYNTUN_2026_618_Sales_Data_Briefing).
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