JD.com wants to normalize low prices.
6.18 "is an annual e-commerce promotion node created by JD.com based on its founding time. Recently, JD.com announced that starting from July, a new promotion called "JD Super 18" will be launched every month from 8pm on the 17th to midnight on the 19th for 28 hours. The first promotion was launched at 8pm on July 17th.
In recent years, several JD Retail CEOs have made efforts in the area of "low prices". Since Xu Ran, the CEO of JD Group, took over the position of JD Retail CEO in November last year, she has made multidimensional efforts in low prices. Since the end of last year, JD.com has successively launched a series of low-priced "combination punches" such as "billion yuan subsidies", "9.9 free shipping channels", and lowered the threshold for free shipping. Recently, there have been many efforts to focus on the "low-priced" mentality in both online and offline channels. For example, in terms of online channels, JD.com has recently re adjusted its self operated fully managed model and entered the sinking market. In terms of offline channels, at the end of June, JD's first full category discount supermarket, Huaguan Discount Supermarket (Changyang Store), officially opened in Fangshan, Beijing, under the banner of "daily low prices".
For the newly launched "JD Super 18" campaign, a reporter from China Business News learned from JD that "JD Super 18" is a brand new marketing IP launched by JD. This will be a sustained project that JD Retail will fully invest in integrating all station resources.
Promote the transformation of blind boxes
It is reported that the "JD Super 18" event is on a monthly basis, fixed from 8pm on the 17th to midnight on the 19th of each month. Each period will provide users with the ultimate discount of popular products, and the fixed price is only 18 yuan. The purpose is to provide users with a surprise shopping experience every month by offering a variety of low-priced products and spending "18 yuan to get a big wool". In the first 18 yuan rush purchase activity, there was even a lot of "Super Family Bucket" super value suits with daily prices of more than 10000 yuan, as well as well-known brand products such as Moutai, Dyson acarid vacuum cleaner, Bulgari perfume, etc. with a price of more than 1000 yuan.
The investment announcement for the "JD Super 18" event aimed at merchants shows that products registered for the "18 yuan N items" event will receive traffic support in public areas such as promotional venues. For stores and products that register for "JD Super 18", the registration requirements are the same as the "6.18" promotion, and the store star rating needs to be greater than or equal to 4 stars; The ranking rate of store logistics performance factors should be greater than or equal to 5%. If the ranking rate of store logistics performance factors is lower than 5%, JD.com supports merchants to register for promotional activities by opening late arrival compensation services. At the same time, the minimum number of items sold in the past 180 days for the product is 1, or the product is a green label (ordinary new product)/black label new product (super new product, mostly 3C product).
Some merchants have stated that the "18 yuan N items" promotion is open to merchants of all categories. When merchants participate in this gameplay, on the basis of providing free shipping services, SKUs need to be reduced to 18 yuan in the form of a limited time promotion for a single item, or sold directly at 18 yuan. Merchants cannot set multiple item minimum sales or multiple item discounts. At the same time, SKUs also need to meet the conditions of large packaging/multiple specifications (independent small packaging N ≥ 3 in SKUs), discount not less than 20%, and inventory not less than 300 pieces.
For products that have successfully registered for the "JD Super 18" event, JD will label them with the "Super 18" tag on the app, and provide traffic support on the search list page, homepage promotion tab, promotion venue, and other platforms.
Facing the consumer end, the reporter found that this "JD Super 18" is different from previous large-scale promotional activities, somewhat like the current "blind box opening". JD.com will not release all the popular products priced at 18 yuan in one breath, but will use an irregular and non fixed location method to list them in batches. Users need to browse the activity page frequently during the event period to have a chance to buy them. JD.com has named this event "Moonlit and Windy High".
In fact, as early as 2004, when JD.com was just transforming into an e-commerce company, Liu Qiangdong, founder and chairman of JD.com Group, led a team to launch a low-priced promotional activity. The name of the activity was very similar to the characteristics of online novels at that time, called "Moon Black, Wind High". The reason why it is called "Moon Black Wind High" is because this event only takes place in the middle of the night, selling various 3C digital products at ultra-low prices. For example, the authentic keyboard, which was priced at over 100 yuan at the time, could be "sold in seconds" for only 11 yuan during the event.
Zhao Zhenying, a researcher at the National Engineering Laboratory of E-commerce Transaction Technology, pointed out to reporters that JD. com's special offer on the 18th of each month, which adopts a form similar to a "blind box", has its specific advantages, but also certain disadvantages. From the perspective of benefits, it can increase user engagement and stickiness, create shopping surprises and satisfaction, stimulate users' purchasing desire, and avoid server pressure caused by excessive traffic concentration. From the perspective of drawbacks, it may affect user experience, challenge consumers' choice ability, increase management difficulty, and may trigger panic buying and speculative behavior
Zhao Zhenying also pointed out that due to the inclusion of products worth over a thousand yuan in the "JD Super 18" campaign, its target customer group not only includes ordinary consumers who pursue cost-effectiveness, but also includes consumers who have a demand for specific high-value products. This type of activity also aims to attract consumers who are price sensitive and have a demand for purchasing high-quality goods.
There is a big promotion every month
Now, after 20 years, JD.com has once again experienced the "dark moon and high wind" trend, launching a new event called "JD Super 18", shortening the annual promotional interval to one month, with a shorter cycle and higher frequency. JD.com hopes to use this monthly low price campaign to start mediatizing some of its products, in order to attract more consumers, enhance brand influence and market share.
Although JD.com has some promotional activities on a regular basis, it has not formed a clear industry appeal and user mentality. The user mentality of billions of subsidies has been occupied by Pinduoduo, so JD.com needs to start a new promotional activity. "Li Chengdong, founder of Dolphin Think Tank, told reporters that JD.com launched the monthly" JD Super 18 ", which is due to significant performance pressure.
Some analysts also believe that JD's launch of the "JD Super 18" campaign, while attracting users with extremely low-priced products and huge discounts, will also help cultivate the habit of users visiting JD on the 18th of each month, thereby increasing shopping frequency and driving daily sales.
But the e-commerce promotion has been developing for more than ten years, and in recent years, the fatigue of merchants towards the promotion has gradually emerged. Because large-scale promotions can cause significant fluctuations in business performance, leading to increased pressure on inventory management for merchants.
Frequent promotional activities may require merchants to provide more discounts and offers, thereby increasing their costs. Merchants may balance these costs by raising product prices or lowering product quality, but this may also damage their brand image and consumer satisfaction, "said Zhao Zhenying.
Li Chengdong pointed out, "JD.com did not conduct such monthly promotional activities before, and they also knew that this was not the best choice. Now it is a forced attempt. Whether it can continue or not, we need to try before we can know
Previously, the first quarter performance of 2024 released by JD Group showed that JD achieved significant improvements in various user indicators in the first quarter, and the number of active users in the quarter maintained double-digit year-on-year growth for two consecutive quarters. The launch of "JD Super 18" by JD may become a powerful tool for attracting users with low prices and driving an increase in user shopping frequency.
Whether JD's practice of shortening the interval between promotional activities to one month is sustainable also depends on whether it can effectively attract and retain consumers, manage the supply chain, and control costs. Zhao Zhenying believes that "the cost of high-frequency promotional discounts may be shared by merchants, platforms, and consumers, but the specific ways and proportions of sharing may vary depending on the specific situation. In order to maintain the sustainability of this strategy, JD.com needs to comprehensively consider various factors and continuously optimize its business model and operational strategy