The Marketing Dilemma of 618

There is a promotional festival called 618 every year, but consumers do not always participate in it. 618 is a shopping festival created by e-commerce platforms, and is second only to the Double Eleven promotion. The initial 618 promotion was simple and crude, offering a 50% discount and direct discount without any tricks. Now, with the booming development of the e-commerce era, promotional festivals are becoming more and more lively, but they have lost the effect of stimulating consumption like a shot of chicken blood. More and more people choose to escape from promotional carnivals such as 618 and Double Eleven.

Why are more and more people losing their previous enthusiasm for 618 promotions? It may be that some consumers have become less sensitive to prices due to their improved spending power; it may be that consumers have become numb to the bombardment of promotions year after year; it may also be that some consumers are reflecting on and resisting consumerism...

From the perspective of Taobao promotional event planning, this article analyzes the purpose of this year's 618 "Raise a cat and share 1 billion" promotion, and why consumers are no longer enthusiastic about 618.

The activity of "Raise a Cat and Share 1 Billion" requires users to obtain "Meow Coins" by participating in the "Cat Raising" game, and use the coins to upgrade their cat characters. Every time they reach a certain level, they can get a red envelope of corresponding amount. The higher the level, the larger the red envelope amount. The red envelopes obtained are issued in the form of coupons. There are many ways to obtain "Meow Coins": daily sign-in, browsing designated stores, ordering designated products, etc.

In addition to collecting coins to upgrade your own cat, there are other ways to play the cat-raising activity: upgrade cats to obtain different clothes and other dressing props; shake to find friends and earn "Meow Coins" with strangers; invite friends to form a team to obtain more "Meow Coins" income, etc.

Why did Taobao design the "Cat Raising Activity" in this way, and what can it bring to Taobao?

Build momentum for the 618 promotion and increase sales.

No matter how fancy the promotional activities are, their most essential purpose is to increase sales and increase the profits of the platform and merchants. Although the cat-raising activity is no longer new, its existence is to promote the 618 promotion, let users share it on social circles, attract more users to participate in the game, and ultimately induce users to browse products and place orders step by step, and then add to the order for greater discounts. Regardless of whether consumers are willing or have seen through this old routine, they still follow the "script" given by Taobao. “Browsing products can increase “Meow Coins”. When you see a product you like, buy it. You can get 10 times the “Meow Coins” by placing an order. Buy it. It would be a pity to not use the remaining coupons, so buy…” Consumers are caught up in a "buying frenzy" and buy more and more intentionally or unintentionally, which is also the result that platforms and merchants hope to see.

Increase store clicks and exposure, and promote and drive traffic to your store.

You can receive "Meow Coins" by browsing Taobao's designated "618 Venue" page, which covers various categories: 15 major categories including home appliances, fresh food, beauty and skin care, etc. Click on the page of each major category, where many big-name products are displayed. This page is equivalent to a display ad for the brand. In this limited space, users generally only look at the first few. If they are interested, they will choose to click in to browse, which will bring traffic and exposure to the store.

Improve customer conversion rate and customer retention rate.

Only by following a store can you receive coupons and "Meow Coins". Compared to browsing products, following a store brings users closer to merchants. Merchants increase the number of fans during promotional activities, and some of these fans are likely to develop into customers or even long-term customers. However, the proportion of users who can become customers or long-term customers is very low. Most users may unfollow the store or forget about it after the purchase, thus losing customer resources. I am skeptical about how much customer conversion and retention can actually be achieved.

Deepen the social attributes of the platform.

Whether it is the “cat-raising activity” during this year’s 618 promotion or the “building activity” during last year’s Double Eleven, they all have social attributes. Activities can be shared with friends, who can be invited to join the activities, or users can team up with strangers to complete the game together. The rules of the game stipulate that the benefits of group participation in the game are higher than those of a single person, thereby encouraging users to invite friends.

Taobao is an e-commerce platform, but it is not satisfied with its e-commerce attributes, it also wants to develop social networking. Developing social attributes is indeed of great help to the construction of the entire platform ecosystem. Social interaction serves as a bond that draws you to shop; social interaction serves as a pastime and a supplement to shopping, so even if you don’t shop, you won’t leave the platform immediately.

Shopping behavior can develop social relationships, and social activities can lead to shopping behavior. The two promote each other and provide a driving force for the development of the platform that cannot be underestimated. However, Taobao’s social functions currently lack the ability to promote shopping.

Prolong the time users spend using the App.

For App, there are different evaluation indicators. The Taobao platform may assess indicators such as sales volume, DAU (daily active users), MAU (monthly active users), and page views. Use the "cat-raising activity" to extend the time users spend on Taobao. The longer the usage time, the more likely users are to place orders to purchase goods, which is helpful for increasing the evaluation indicators mentioned above. Simply put, if the assessment indicators look good, the data will look good, and the annual report will also look good.

Although the "cat-raising" promotion designed by Taobao is well-planned and can bring good profits to the platform and merchants, it can be said to be a good activity. But from the consumer's perspective, this promotion has many problems and flaws.

The activity rules are complicated and consume too much time and energy.

Whether it is 618 or Double Eleven, Taobao's promotional activities have become more and more complicated in recent years. There are various discounts for purchases of different amounts, pre-sale discounts, cross-store allowances, etc. The rules of these discounts are numerous and complicated, and the redemption rules are also different or even contradictory. This is a great test for consumers' mathematical and planning abilities and has been criticized. Taobao also has games such as building buildings, stacking cats, and raising cats. Players need to do a lot of homework, manage the game every day, and even need to keep an eye on the game progress all the time, otherwise they will be surpassed by others. The game lasts a long time, usually half a month, and requires a lot of time and energy, but the final benefits are not balanced with the investment, and users lack a sense of accomplishment.

Interviewee He Yuanyuan said: "When the rules are complicated by the platform and designed into a small game of opening red envelopes, inviting friends, and exchanging small discounts with time, and the battle line is too long, it is not so tempting for adults. For example, I signed in on the first day, but forgot about it on the second day."

Consuming favors and sharing activities creates psychological pressure.

The "cat coins" earned by inviting friends to the "cat raising activity" are more than those earned by a single player. So some users shared the event with different friends and asked them to participate in the game. Some people don't like to participate and can't stand the hassle, but when their friends "enthusiastically" invite them, they find it hard to refuse the kindness . After getting help from your friends, you get the discount, but you also unknowingly bear a certain amount of pressure from favors. Maybe the next time your friends ask you to "cut the price", you won't dare to refuse easily.

Promotions are frequent, and the 618 promotion is not very attractive .

Today’s e-commerce platforms have different promotions almost every day of every month. Taobao’s large-scale promotional activities include 618, Double Eleven, New Year’s Goods Festival, and anniversary celebrations; smaller ones include New Year’s new products, the start of the school season, and the October warm season promotions, not to mention the promotions during every Women’s Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Christmas and other festivals. There are so many promotional activities, one after another, it would be an exaggeration to say that they are all seamlessly connected. Consumers have memories of promotions. If the promotion is too weak, it will be unattractive, and if the promotion is too frequent, it will cause aesthetic fatigue. Moreover, with so many shopping channels nowadays, overseas shopping is not as troublesome as before, and there is no need to choose just one e-commerce platform.

The interviewee Momo said, "As an excellent 'shopping spree' player, 618 is certainly not a 'super discount' in my eyes. If I don't buy anything, I will lose 100 million yuan. I won't lose anything if I don't participate. As long as my shopping channels are rich enough, every day is 618."

Some of the discounts are fake and suspected of deceiving consumers .

It’s okay that there are many rules and routines, but the most important thing is that the discounts may be fake. After going through so much trouble to get a coupon, I found out that the merchant first raised the price and then lowered it. In fact, there was not much discount, or even no discount at all. What consumers hate most is the deceptive behavior of merchants. Once they discover it, they will basically never come back again. But raising prices first and then lowering them seems to have become an "open secret" of the platform, and everyone is doing it tacitly. This is a very short-sighted and stupid behavior for both the platform and the merchants.

Respondent Lu Zhou said: "The 618 routine that I can't accept the most is to raise prices first and then lower them. Some of the items in my shopping cart were put in February and March, and suddenly the prices increased in April and May, and then dropped again near June. I watched the prices go up and down like a roller coaster. This operation is a deception to me."

It is undeniable that the 618 event brought huge traffic and sales to Taobao, and many consumers still chose to fight in the 618 promotion and enjoy the satisfaction brought by placing an order. The 618 related promotions have their success, but because the promotional activities are complicated, time-consuming, labor-intensive, and have too many routines, more and more consumers are beginning to dislike and escape from them. This is also a reality that cannot be ignored.

If someone asked me: Will Taobao continue this year's style in future 618 promotions, or will it simplify the activities and give real discounts to consumers? I guess there is no need to even think about it, it will remain the same.

The interviewees mentioned above are all pseudonyms, and the interviews are second-hand data, not interviewed by the author himself.

Author: Chen Liangkai

Source: Chen Liangkai