Thursday, 18 June, 2026
Shopping Sputters, Robots Rise: China's "618" Festival Shifts Focus
By TechShots Studio
China’s major "618" mid-year shopping festival has closed to a subdued reception, exposing fragile consumer confidence and weak retail demand. Faced with spending fatigue and crackdowns on extreme discounting, e-commerce giants like Alibaba and JD.com shifted strategies. Instead of pushing price wars, platforms went all-in on AI tools, deploying automated shopping assistants and 24/7 digital livestreamers to slash merchant overhead.