巴黎世家、参半、泡泡玛特 为何在今年618集体战略转向？

This article highlights a new industry shift ahead of this year's 618 shopping festival: a wave of brands has collectively joined Tmall and adjusted their strategic direction, indicating a fundamental change in China's e-commerce operating logic. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. Core industry change: Where past 618 events were promotional battlegrounds for brands to fight price wars and chase GMV targets, this year brands have shifted their focus to building brand equity and validating new business lines, rather than pursuing only short-term sales spikes.

2. Shift on the consumer side: Ordinary consumers are gradually moving from a "buy the cheapest" decision-making framework to prioritizing trusted brands, and are increasingly willing to pay a premium for products that deliver emotional value and reliable brand reputation.

3. Takeaway for building a career: Whether you run a small business or build a personal brand, focusing only on short-term traffic is not sustainable. Long-term stability and growth come from committing to user accumulation and building brand mindshare over time.

This article outlines new growth trends and actionable strategic paths for brands today, with key takeaways below:

1. Shifting consumer trends: Consumer decisions are now driven by brand trust rather than price sensitivity. The rise of Gen Z has sparked growing demand for nostalgic consumption and emotionally resonant products. There is still ample room for growth in numerous niche segments, allowing brands facing saturated core categories to open new growth curves.

2. Channel strategy direction: A large number of brands are choosing to bet heavily on Tmall, thanks to its more than 62 million high-purchasing-power, high-repeat-purchase 88VIP members, as well as its robust data analytics and operating ecosystem. This enables brands to validate new categories at low cost and build long-term user equity.

3. Strategic insights for brands: Established brands can leverage their existing brand DNA to expand cross-sector into new categories that match user demand. This allows them to escape price war competition and optimize revenue structure. For new foreign brands entering the Chinese market, Tmall serves as an ideal first landing point to cut down on offline trial-and-error costs.

This article sorts out new growth opportunities and risks for e-commerce sellers, with key takeaways below:

1. Shifting demand and growth opportunities: Consumers have moved from prioritizing low prices to trusting established brands, with demand growing for products tailored to specific life scenarios and emotional value. Even in today's saturated market, plenty of niche segments still offer room for incremental growth, and sellers can enter these trend-aligned segments to expand.

2. Actionable growth paths: Sellers with an existing user base can leverage their established brand trust to expand into new categories with higher ceilings and gross margins, opening a second growth curve. Existing brand mindshare drastically reduces the cost of educating consumers about new products.

3. Risk warning: Over-reliance on paid traffic for growth and over-focus on a single category easily leaves sellers trapped in cutthroat competition. When traffic dries up, sales plummet, making long-term development unsustainable.

4. Practical advice: Sellers can use Tmall as a testing ground for new categories, leveraging the platform's high-net-worth user base and data capabilities to quickly test market feedback and reduce transition risk. They should move away from relying on low-cost traffic and focus on building brand mindshare in their chosen niche.

This article provides clear direction and insights for factories looking to expand business and transition into e-commerce, with key takeaways below:

1. Product design and development direction: Consumers today increasingly value brand trust and emotional value, and there is still substantial growth room across niche scenarios and categories. Factories with existing production or brand foundations can leverage their current capabilities to expand into higher-ceiling segments and unlock new growth opportunities.

2. Business opportunities: Many established brands are currently expanding their second growth curves. Factories can leverage their production strengths to partner with mature brands on developing new categories, enter new segments, and share in the growth dividend.

3. Insights for digital and e-commerce transformation: Factories looking to build their own brands do not need to build out offline distribution from day one. Tmall can serve as a first stop to test new categories; the platform's high-net-worth user base and data tools allow factories to quickly validate market demand, adjust product design and production, drastically cut trial-and-error costs, and avoid falling into the trap of developing non-existent demand.

This article sorts out the current brand transformation trend and core pain points brands face, offering insights for service providers adjusting their business direction. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. New industry trends: Brands have shifted from a growth model focused on short-term traffic and sales to one centered on long-term brand equity management. A large number of brands are now expanding second growth curves and testing new categories and businesses. The entire industry is entering a period of long-term structural adjustment, which has reshaped market demand for brand operation services.

2. Core pain points for brands: Most established brands face saturated growth in their core categories, compressed margins from relentless price wars, uncertainty about validating new cross-sector categories, and high transition risk. New foreign brands entering China additionally face a lack of existing user base and familiarity with Chinese market operations.

3. Market opportunities for service providers: Service providers can develop tailored solutions to meet new demand for new category validation, brand mindshare building, and user equity management, to capture the opportunity from the brand transformation wave. They can leverage Tmall's ecosystem to deliver targeted transformation services for brands.

This article outlines brands' new requirements for e-commerce platforms and summarizes successful lessons from leading platforms, offering insights for platform operators. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. Brands' new demands on platforms: Today, brands no longer only look to platforms for traffic to drive sales. They increasingly need platforms to help them build brand equity, validate new category market demand, reach high-purchasing-power users, and lower transition trial-and-error costs. Platforms that rely solely on price wars for traffic can no longer meet brands' long-term needs.

2. Success lessons from leading platforms: Leveraging its "user search for goods" mindshare, Tmall has built a base of over 62 million high-net-worth 88VIP members and developed a robust system for data analytics and brand operations. This meets brands' needs for validating new categories and building mindshare, leading to a 30% month-on-month surge in new brand registrations between March and May this year.

3. Insights for platform operation and merchant acquisition: Platforms need to adjust their operating logic: instead of focusing only on short-term GMV growth, they should shift to helping brands build long-term equity and improve platform data service capabilities to attract brand入驻. By avoiding the short-term path of pure price wars and building a healthier platform ecosystem, platforms can attract high-quality brands for long-term, sustainable partnerships.

This article sorts out the new structural shifts emerging in China's e-commerce industry, offering high-value insights for industrial research. Key takeaways are as follows:

1. New industry dynamics: Ahead of this year's 618, a clear trend has emerged of brands collectively shifting to Tmall to pursue expansion, marking a fundamental change in e-commerce operating logic. Brands have moved from nomadic, traffic-chasing growth to hub-based, long-term brand equity management. The 618 shopping festival has also transformed from a pure price promotion event into a strategic battlefield for brands to test new strategies and build long-term assets.

2. Drivers behind the shift: In a saturated market, most brands have hit a growth ceiling in their single core category, with price wars continuously squeezing profit margins. At the same time, consumer decision-making has shifted from price sensitivity to brand trust-driven choices. These combined factors have forced the collective industry shift toward transformation.

3. New changes in business models: E-commerce platforms are no longer purely sales channels; they have evolved into strategic landing platforms for brands to test new categories and validate new business models. Brands' growth model has also shifted from paid traffic-for-growth to leveraging existing brand equity to open second growth curves. This shift is a long-term structural adjustment that will reshape the future competitive landscape of the entire e-commerce industry.