Above: From June 17 to 18, AliHealth joined forces with well-known brands targeting young consumers, including Jissbon, Johnson & Johnson, Hailien, Bayer, and Nestlé, to set up a “Health Evolution” five-senses experience pavilion at Shanghai’s Yueda 889 Plaza, promoting new concepts of healthy lifestyles through online and offline interactive campaigns.
Starting at midnight, night-owl shoppers demonstrated immense enthusiasm for health: within just two hours, the overall transaction volume of AliHealth’s pharmaceutical e-commerce business surged by 636% year-on-year; among this, medical and health services saw a year-on-year increase of over 900%.
The surprise came from Tmall’s “sudden strike”: Following a joint RMB 10 billion subsidy campaign with merchants and several days of frenzied coupon grabs featuring offers like “RMB 100 off on purchases over RMB 199” and “RMB 600 off on purchases over RMB 5,000,” Tmall suddenly announced an additional boost on the evening of June 17. From midnight to 1 a.m. on June 18, shoppers could stack Tmall’s 618 shopping vouchers (“RMB 60 off for every RMB 300 spent”) on top of existing 50% or 20% discounts across a vast selection of products, prompting enthusiastic online shoppers to exclaim, “It’s almost like earning a 13th month’s salary!”
Condoms + Kidney Tonics Become 618 Shopping Festival Essentials
The hours after midnight mark the peak sales period for adult family planning products. However, the year-on-year surge of up to 2000% in the first hour still came as a shock: among the top 10 best-selling items in the first hour, seven were ultra-thin condoms from brands such as Jissbon and Durex. The strong sales of ultra-thin variants highlight that the younger generation, with evolved health concepts, places greater emphasis on sexual experience. At the Jissbon Official Flagship Store, over 500,000 units of the “Ultra-Thin Pleasure Condoms for Men and Women, Zero-Feel, Long-Lasting, with Textured Dots” were sold within one hour. Calculated at an average length of 18 cm per condom, the combined length exceeds that of two full marathons.
Meanwhile, the 126-tablet pack of Huiren Brand Shenbao Tablets, offered with a “buy 5, get 1 free” promotion, also saw strong sales. By 8:00 PM on June 18, over 10,000 units had been sold. It appears that while men are paying attention to sexual performance, they are even more focused on nutritional supplementation and wellness, striving to “replenish what has been depleted from kidney overexertion.”
Well-known medical device brands continued to deliver outstanding performance during the 618 shopping festival. In just 10 minutes, sales of Braun ear thermometers surpassed the previous year’s full-day total; within 20 minutes, Yuwell’s entire product lineup exceeded its prior year’s 618 full-day sales; and in under two hours, Omron, Johnson & Johnson, Roche, and others had all matched or exceeded their previous year’s full-day transaction volumes. The rapid pace of consumer upgrading in the medical device sector has been truly remarkable.
Surge in Online Healthcare Spending: Sales of Imported Original Products Soar
On the day of the 618 Shopping Festival, which coincided with Father’s Day, a surge of gratitude from avid shoppers toward their parents fueled robust sales of medical checkup services. Within just 30 minutes, the total sales volume of healthcare services on the AliHealth platform matched the full-day sales recorded during the same period last year. The flagship Father’s Day product, the “iKang Guobin Deep Love for Mom and Dad Premium Health Checkup Card,” saw particularly strong demand.
As health consumption upgrades, imported health products from overseas are attracting a surge in orders. Several products from the Chemist Warehouse Overseas Flagship Store, the Move Free Official Overseas Flagship Store, and the AliHealth Overseas Flagship Store have entered the top 20 bestseller list, including Cenovis Australian Vitamin C Lozenges, Australian-imported Swisse Milk Thistle (120 capsules), Move Free Glucosamine Chondroitin (Red Bottle), and the Braun Ear Thermometer from Germany.
Mothers and infants are the most cared-for group within families, naturally becoming the new elite consumers in the health product market. On Tmall’s 618 list of the most expensive medical products, Beijing United Family Hospital’s package—comprising prenatal check-ups, natural delivery, a children’s vaccine package for ages 0–24 months, and the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine—topped the list at RMB 96,390.42. “The package, originally priced at RMB 140,248, was ultimately purchased by the customer for RMB 95,082. After applying store coupons and Tmall shopping vouchers, the discount exceeded 30%, making it a truly cost-effective deal,” said an AliHealth healthcare platform representative.
The Pursuit of Healthy Beauty Becomes a New Consumer Trend
Among health and wellness products, bird’s nest, renowned for its beauty-enhancing and skin-nourishing properties, stands out as the top performer. As of 10:00 a.m., sales of bird’s nest supplements surged by 628% year-on-year. Yan Zhi Wu’s bowl-packed bird’s nest, priced at over RMB 2,000, has also garnered strong demand from fans, driven by promotional offers such as buy-one-get-one-free deals.
China’s obese population has surged to the world’s largest, making weight loss and muscle building increasingly essential needs for Chinese consumers. In just three minutes, 2,000 units of the discounted weight-loss drug Orlistat were snapped up; by 10:00 p.m. on June 18, 11,000 beauty-conscious consumers had purchased this product. Meanwhile, Xiwang Group, which had just announced a strategic partnership with AliHealth ahead of the 618 shopping festival, saw strong sales of its Muscletech protein powder. Throughout the entire 618 event, the Muscletech flagship store achieved a sevenfold year-on-year increase in sales.
The desire for beauty is further evidenced by contact lens sales during the 618 Shopping Festival. Last year’s Double 11, Tmall Health sold 26,147,234 contact lenses, setting a Guinness World Record for “the most contact lenses sold on a single online platform within 24 hours.” During this year’s 618 event, contact lens sales remained robust; within just one hour, sales of colored contact lenses surpassed the total volume recorded for the entire day of last year’s 618 festival.