(Yicai Global) June 19 -- Some 75.3 percent of respondents to an Yicai Global survey said they were less willing to spend money during China’s ‘618’ online shopping festival this year compared with last year. But over 53 percent said they were still inclined to spend.

More than 58 percent of the 400 people polled intended to spend between CNY300 and CNY500 (USD42 and USD70) during the 618 Shopping Festival, an annual e-commerce event that runs from the end of May to June 18.

Nearly 15 percent had a budget of CNY1,000 to CNY2,000 (USD140 to USD280), while over 10 percent planned to spend in excess of CNY2,000, according to the survey’s findings. The remaining 17 percent were willing to spend no more than CNY300.

Nearly 90 percent shopped on Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall. Pinduoduo ranked second with 62.3 percent, followed by JD.Com at 23.4 percent and ByteDance’s Douyin at 17.6 percent. Taobao and JD.Com invested the most in terms of promotions for this year’s 618.

Some 73.5 percent bought clothes, 65.9 percent shoes and bags, 18.1 percent everyday products, 15.3 percent cosmetics, and 13.2 percent food. Just 0.5 percent bought luxury goods.

Many cosmetics brands launched discounts as big as during Double 11, China’s most famous retail festival. Makeup firms that were unwilling to make “crazy discounts” did not have a chance to compete with peers during 618, a cosmetics industry insider told Yicai Global.

Chinese dairy producers, such as Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, Mengniu Dairy, Beijing Sanyuan Foods, and Bright Dairy & Food, offered bigger discounts than usual on major e-commerce platforms, trying to clear their inventories, Yicai Global learned. The prices of some 200 to 250-milliliter milk cartons were halved in price to CNY1.60 (22 US cents).

Live e-commerce was very popular during 618. Nearly 61 percent of the survey participants said they bough products during live-streamed promotions, while 42.5 percent shopped by searching for a specific item.

Taobao Live, Taobao’s live e-commerce platform, had a gross merchandise volume of over CNY5.1 billion (USD715.6 million) as of June 1, with the GMV of 122 food brands’ livestreaming studios doubling in the first four hours of 618.

Some 54.2 percent of the surveyed people found this year’s discounts particularly high, with prices lower than usual. Meanwhile, almost 74 percent thought there was still room for further price reductions.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione