JD’s annual shopping event is the summer equivalent of the Singles Day shopping festival that Alibaba hosts in November every year. The promotion, known as 618, runs June 1-18. Nowadays, both e-commerce firms join in on the other platform’s promotions amid rising competition in the country’s online shopping space.

JD.com announced that it had experienced transaction volume on the platform of over 269.2 billion ($37.99 billion), during the sales period, up more than 33.6% year on year. Alibaba said gross merchandise value or GMV stood at 698.2 billion yuan ($98.52 billion).

JD.com in May said it expected net revenue to grow 20% to 30% in the three months to June, after nearly 21% growth in the previous quarter. Both figures are year-over-year.

JD.com Numbers:

• 271% increase in overall transaction volume.
• The proportion of imported product purchases made by female users is 21.2% higher than that of the platform overall, while the average age of buyers of imported products is three years lower than the platform average.
• Top countries for imported brands include the US, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy.
• Top 5 markets for outbound sales are Hong Kong SAR, Chinese Taipei, United States, Japan, and Singapore.
• 42,000 tons of delivery waste prevented through recyclable packaging, slimmer tape, and paperless options.
• During this 618, 82% of merchants used JD’s cross-border warehouse and delivery service.
• On June 18, 80% of orders of JD Worldwide were sent out on the same day they were placed.
• JD hosted over 300,000 live-streaming sessions.
• Sales of 31 brands’ live-streaming rooms surpassed RMB 100 million yuan ($14 million), and sales of 167 brands’ live-streaming rooms surpassed RMB 10 million yuan ($1.4 million).
• During this 618, over 71% of new users came from lower-tier cities.
• Top provinces with comparatively more new users in lower-tier markets include Henan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Anhui and Shandong.
• Lower-tier city consumers on JD trend younger, with the average age being 32.79 years old, and roughly 55% are female.

JD.com Beauty Numbers:

• Top three growth categories by number of customers: food & beverage, baby & maternal, and beauty products.
• Sales of imported beauty products increased by over 400%.
• 300% sales increase in high-end shampoo and conditioner.
• 100% sales increase in facial essence, lotion/cream.
• SK-II 2.6x sales increase.
• Lancôme 5.8x sales increase.
• Elizabeth Arden 2.9x sales increase.
• The History of Whoo 2.2x sales increase.
• 32x sales increase in disposable cleaning products.

This represents the first major shopping event in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic; JD’s 618 performance has demonstrated the resilience of the Chinese economy and the opportunity that remains for international brands, even under uncertainty.

COVID-19 has certainly accelerated the adoption of e-commerce not just in China but globally. At the same time, considerable uncertainty remains about how long the epidemic will persist. In response to a question about whether JD had “benefitted from the epidemic,” JD Retail CEO Lei Xu told a group of reporters in Beijing that while it may seem like JD has benefitted in the short term, owing to its leadership in digitalization, supply chain, category advantages, etc., the pandemic has impacted the supply chain globally and locally. He said, “There isn’t a single company that won’t be impacted by the epidemic.”