Disappointing sales in China's 618 online shopping festival
Disappointing sales in China's 618 online shopping festival
Big discounts no longer work on China's online shoppers
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China has two main online shopping festivals each year.
The biggest is Double 11 (双十一 shuāng shí yī), Singles Day, also known as 光棍节 guāng gùn jié, which is held in November. It was conceived by Alibaba, and the first one was held in 2009.
The ‘618’ shopping festival (六一八 liù yāo bā in Chinese) is the second largest. It’s held in June, and was invented by JD.com to mark the anniversary of its founding on 18 June, 1996 (it first went online in 2004). JD.com is China’s second-largest e-commerce platform, behind Alibaba.
618 begins on 1 June and continues until the 18th, although this year it carried on until the 20th - finally drawing to a close last week.
As with every year, online e-commerce platforms were full of special deals, offers and discounts.
But this year, shoppers were quieter than normal.
即便预告期便竭力向外告知着“超大力度”，但战线越拉越长、规则越来越复杂的大促活动，并不能成功激起消费者的多巴胺，即便是往常一到大促就异常兴奋的“羊毛党”，对于今年的618也评价寥寥
Even though the promotional activities of platforms in the lead up were very strong, as the festival has become longer, and the rules become more complicated, these major shopping festivals cannot get consumers’ dopamine levels going. Even the big bargain hunters who are normally very excited had very little to say about it this year.
According to Sixth Tone, JD.com recorded a 10.3% rise in total sales from June 1 to June 18, marking its slowest growth of the past five years.
So this week we explore analysis about why China’s bargain hunters are not impressed this year, in one beautifully written article in 36Kr’s Burning Finance (燃财经 rán cái jīng) column.
Favourite Five
1. 被薅 bèi hāo
to be ripped off, taken advantage of
她觉得自己时间成本好廉价，“总感觉被薅的是我自己。” - She feels that her own time is seen as too cheap. She always feels like the one who is ripped off.
More: we discussed this word in April this year. It normally means to grab a discount, but in the passive (被) it means getting ripped off or taken advantage off by someone else who is looking for a discount at their expense.
Related: We also discussed the phrase 薅羊毛 hāo yángmáo in November last year. ‘Grabbing sheep’s wool’ means to grab a bargain.
2. 败北 bài běi
suffer a defeat
总之，‘羊毛车’得快，犹豫就会败北，只有果断才会白给 - Overall, if you are looking for a discount, you have to be quick. If you hesitate you will lose out; act fast and you can secure huge discounts.
More: the character 北 běi in ancient Chinese also has the meaning of 背 bèi, ‘to face your back towards’. During a military battle, when one side begins to weaken and has to retreat, it does so by turning round and running the other way - facing their backs to the imminent victors in doing so. So here 北 běi means to fail or lose. The term first appeared in Sima Qian’s work, Historical records: Biographic Sketches of Xiang Yu. (史记·项羽本纪).
More: 白给 bái gěi means to give a ‘huge discount’ or to get something for virtually free.
3. 羊毛党 yáng máo dǎng
sheep wool party; bargain hunters
和普通消费者不一样，“羊毛党”不太喜欢百亿补贴类的“直接低价” - Unlike other consumers, bargain hunters don’t really like the discounts based on big subsidies by brands.
Note: we first discussed this in November last year in the lead up to the Double 11 shopping festival.
More: you can also have bargain hunting groups on Wechat (羊毛群 yáng máo qún) and bargain hunting bloggers (羊毛博主 yáng máo bó zhǔ).
4. 工具人 gōng jù rén
a tool person; someone who is used by someone else to achieve an objective
工具人作为店铺及消费者中间的桥梁，消费者通过“工具人”链接获取相应商品更便宜 - The middle man is the bridge between the shop and the customer. The customer can buy products at much cheaper prices through them.
Note: this is an Internet phrase which became popular in 2020, voted a top ten hot phrase of the year. Here the meaning has evolved to something more like ‘middle man’.
5. 羊毛出在羊身上 yáng máo chū zài yáng shēn shang
wool comes from sheep; you get what you pay for
关于这个问题，仿佛那句“羊毛出在羊身上”已经让答案昭然若揭 - About this question, it would seem that the saying ‘wool comes from sheep’ has clearly answered it.
More: this is normally linked to someone being told they have got a good deal but actually they haven’t. They’ve just got what they have paid for already.
2. Consuming the conversation
Useful words
囤 tún
to stockpile
今年618原本想囤一年量的纸巾、洗衣液等一应家里日常用到的消耗品 - The plan for this 618 shopping festival was to stockpile a year’s supply of groceries such as tissues and shower gel.
大促 dà cù
big promotion
往常一到大促就异常兴奋的“羊毛党” - The bargain hunters usually become very excited around the time of big shopping promotions.
满减 mǎn jiǎn
discount after a certain amount reached
很多商家选择不参与平台的满减活动 - Lots of outlets have decided to not participate in the bulk buy deals of online platforms.
黑产 hēi chǎn
using bots to hunt bargains online
触碰法律红线的“薅羊毛”黑产的消费行为 - Bargain hunters who hunt bargains through the bots and illegal computer programs.
吆喝 yāo he
shout; publicity
消费者要想“薅”到羊毛，除了平台吆喝外，还需要商家让利 - If consumers want to get a good bargain, in addition to the platforms promoting it, the brands also need to give up some of their profits.
Note: this is a more colloquial/down to earth way of saying 宣传 xuān chuán.
战果 zhàn guǒ
the spoils of victory
活跃在羊毛群里的全职宝妈A姐最近半个月的“战果” - The spoils of victory from the last six months of full-time Housewife A who is very active in the bargain hunting online groups.
Note: 全职宝妈 quán zhí bǎo mā means ‘full-time housewife’; 宝妈 is short for 宝宝的妈妈 (bǎo bǎo de mā mā).
折戟 zhé jǐ
defeated
在此事上折戟的她，更是研究出一套“薅羊毛攻略” - She was duped on this, so she came up with her own bargain hunting strategy.
Related: 折戟沉沙 zhé jǐ chén shā - suffer a crushing defeat, which is an idiom we first explored in April this year.
割舍 gē shě
give up
如果发现营销所带来的收益不能覆盖投入成本，那么只能将之割舍 - If you realise the benefits of marketing cannot cover the cost of the discounts offered, then you should give it up.
Note: this is a more written way to say 舍弃 shě qì or 放弃 fàng qì.
Three-character phrases
贪便宜 tān pián yi
be greedy
吸引消费者“贪便宜”使用他们的优惠券跳转到淘宝店内购物 - Attract greedy shoppers to use vouchers on their Taobao stores.
Note: difference between the three phrases:
占便宜 zhàn pián yi - refers to using someone’s time / resources, often in good humour (negative tone)
贪便宜 tān pián yi - greedily always on the lookout for a good deal (negative tone)
捡便宜 jiǎn pián yi - getting a good deal (neutral tone)
退堂鼓 tuì táng gǔ
banging the exit drums; making an exit in the middle of something
商家打起退堂鼓不愿参与大促活动中来 - Merchants did not want to take part in the big promotional events.
打水漂 dǎ shuǐ piāo
a waste of money
她对于此次的让利行为，也坦言称之为“钱打了水漂的感觉” - She felt like she was wasting her money with the discounts this time.
Idioms
These are all useful business-y idioms which readers of this newsletter should know! Try to throw them into conversations this week.
画上句号 huà shàng jù hào
period, come to an end
6月20日过后，该次618年中大促才算画上句号 - The 618 shopping festival only came to a proper end on the 20 June.
精打细算 jīng dǎ xì suàn
shrewd, careful with money
对精打细算的“羊毛党”来说，直接低价意味着没有可操作的空间 - For shrewd bargain hunters, simply lowering the price is not appealing because it means there’s no more room for getting a better deal.
归根结底 guī gēn jié dǐ
in the final analysis, fundamentally
“羊毛党”在大促期间未能尽情，归根结底，还是因为“羊毛”难寻 - Shopaholics did not fully enjoy the shopping festival. At the end of the day it was because bargains were hard to come by.
不言而喻 bù yán ér yù
it goes without saying
大促活动就是天然的千亿流量池，效果不言而喻 - Major promotions draw in billions of views. Its impact goes without saying.
More: we first discussed this idiom back in August last year.
云泥之别 yún ní zhī bié
difference between clouds and mud; wildly different
实际效果和预期还是有着云泥之别 - The actual effect is totally different from what was expected.
Related: 天壤之别 tiān rǎng zhī bié - the difference between the sky and the earth (discussed in 14 May newsletter this year).
迎刃而解 yíng rèn' ér jiě
solved
“羊毛党”担心的“无羊毛可薅”的问题也迎刃而解 - The concern of bargain hunters not being able to find bargains was also addressed.
Phrases
竹篮打水一场空 zhú lán dǎ shuǐ yī chǎng kōng
draw water with a bamboo basket; a waste of effort
时间赛跑的背后，可能也是竹篮打水一场空的“一无所获” - In this race against time, it’s all a waste of effort because in the end they don’t get anything.
Note: this technically comes up as an idiom in the dictionary - a rare six-character one.
三思而后行 sān sī ér hòu xíng
think before you act
对于消费者，她也有提醒，薅羊毛也要“三思而后行” - She reminded shoppers to also think before they go out and buy a bargain.
一口吃成个胖子 yī kǒu chī chéng ge pàng zi
get fat after one mouth full; rushing to do something that’s not possible
所以商家也不要再想着“一口吃成个胖子”，电商行业“躺赚”时代已经过去了 - So merchants should no longer be out for quick wins. The times of e-commerce retailers making ‘money while lying down’ are over.Going deeper- Links
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