The Information Office of Shanghai Municipality today (July 8) held a media briefing, during which Hua Yuan, director of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, introduced the major achievements of the Double Five Shopping Festival. Liu Min, deputy director of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, Ruan Li, deputy director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization, Cheng Meihong, deputy director of the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism, and Ding Bo, deputy secretary of the Shanghai Committee of China Communist Youth League,attended the briefing and answered questions from reporters.

Key facts and main results of the first Double Five Shopping Festival

As the first large-scale comprehensive consumer festival in the country, the first Double Five Shopping Festival, with a theme of “a discount season throughout the city,”was held in May and June, engaging more than 520,000 merchants online and over 100,000 offline. More than 170 key events and more than 1,000 special events were held, thus effectively luring consumers and boosting the consumer landscape, reviving the virtuous cycle of production, distribution and consumption, and largely addressing pent-up consumer demand and unleashing growth potential.

(1) Consumption was boosted. During the shopping festival, sales of the city’s 200 large commercial enterprises reached 68.4 billion yuan, up 4.5% year on year and 33.5% month on month. According to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau, total retail sales in May increased by 0.6% year on year, 3.4 percentage points higher than that of the whole country. Offline brick-and-mortar businesses continued to pick up. While consumption by out-of-towners was still at a low level and merchants increased their discounts and promotion efforts, data on the payment side showed that the city’s offline consumption of physical goods amounted to 284.6 billion yuan, up 11.6% monthonmonth, basically returning to the level of the same period last year. Sales of major retailers posted month-on-month growth of 33.9%. For example, sales of New World Daimaru and First Yaohan Mall increased by 2.1 times and 1.4 times respectively monthonmonth. Online retail sales boomed.Data from the Shanghai Postal Administration showed that the number of express parcels in Shanghai reached 500 million, up 20.6% year on year. Third-party big data showed that the city’s online retail sales reached 255.1 billion yuan, up 23.5 percent year on year.For example, year-on-year growth rates of Fresh Hema and Dingdong Maicai were over 90% and 120%, respectively. Rapid recovery was observed in key sectors. Automobile consumption grew significantly, with sales of 116,000 new cars, and sales value up 9.9% year on year. Growth of food and beverage consumption accelerated, with sales of Ele.me and Koubei growing more than 15% year on year. Meituan’s in-store consumption on food and beverage rose 34% year on year, and takeaways at night rose almost 20%. Middle and high-end consumption apparently recovered, with sales of 27 high-end brands increasing by more than 50% yearonyear. Consumer sentiment in major business districts recovered.The average sales of Nanjing Road E., Nanjing Road W., Little Lujiazui, Xujiahuiand Wujiaochang business districts increased by 52.8% monthonmonth, and the consumer flow increased by 38.8% monthonmonth.

(2) Innovative models were adopted. Online and offline platforms were well integrated.Empowerment by platformsand joint promotion led to faster digitalization of businesses. For example, New World City joined hands with Pinduoduo to issue more consumption vouchers, and on the first day of the issuance, consumer flow exceeded 100,000. Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall joined hands with Douyin and Himalaya to hold activities such as “Dou Shen Gou” and “Nanjing Road with Sound,” which led to a month-on-month increase of 1.8 times in consumer flow.Yangpu District joined hands with Bilibili to carry out the event of “Great Wujiaochang, happy discount season,” which led to a sales increase of 52.7% monthonmonth.Livestreaming led the new trend of consumption, with more than 290,000 livestreaming events luring a viewership of 950 million. For example, Minhang District leveraged imported goods, Baoshan district and Jiading District leveraged time-honored products, Songjiang District and Fengxian District leveraged advanced manufacturing, Qingpu District, Jinshan District and Chongming District leveraged their own agricultural products. Party Secretaries and district heads have taken the initiative to promote products via livestreaming. Xuhui District and Tencent jointly launched “Beautiful Xujiahui” cloud-based livestreaming event, which helped businessesin the circle boost sales by 57.6% month on month.Fifty-five anchors fromShanghai Radio Station told stories about time-honored brands, and launched a 10-hour “Love in Changning” livestreaming event on May 20. Dada Group pioneered the new model of “delivery within 1 hour” for products purchased via livestreaming. Commerce, industry, culture and tourismsectors were interconnected.Players in the commerce, manufacturing, culture, tourism and other industries have launched a number of cross-sectoral cooperation and cross-industry marketing campaigns to promote the overall recovery.For example, the Publicity Department of the CPC Shanghai Committee originated the “Quality Life Livestreaming Week,” promoting time-honored brands, trendy cultural and creative products, cultural tourism and art performances, which drove consumption of about 5 billion yuan. Dragon TVpioneered a four-hour global live broadcast, during which businesses booked pre-sales of 8.9 billion yuan. The Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization held the Information Consumption Festival, which drove information consumption to nearly 26 billion yuan.The “Five 100” campaign launched by Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism has engaged a total of more than 100 million people. Brand and Quality Online Shopping Festival promoted online retail, catering, tourism and other consumption, engaging over 100,000 brands and achieving a turnover of 15 billion yuan. The first Night Life Festival had 180 activities around the six themes of night shopping, night food and night entertainment, with the growth rate of night consumption exceeding 10% monthonmonth.Internal and external trade links were connected.A series of events around online sales of high-quality export products was launched. iBailian, Xiaohongshu and Aikucunset up special zones for the city’s export products by providing rapid entry, traffic flow support, commission reduction and quick settlement. More than a thousand foreign trade enterprises have achieved domestic sales of more than 5 billion yuan.

(3) People’s livelihood was improved. Discounts and promotions benefited people. Companies launched unprecedented promotional campaigns. For example, Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Suning.com, Bailian Group, Bright Food Group, Yuexing Group and other platforms and merchants issued a total of 28.6 billion yuan in consumption coupons.SAIC unveiled nearly 400 new energy vehicles at a price of 45%off, which triggered a market frenzy. Putuo District Automobile Brands Exhibition launched large discounts of up to 45% off, and sales during the event period increased by 41% yearonyear.Discounts and promotion during holidays led to sales growth. For example, on Mother’s Day, some brands offereddiscounts on gold jewelry, which led to a year-on-year increase in gold jewelry sales of 22.4%; During theMay 20event, some leading cosmetics brands offered discounts of up to 20%, with sales growth of 81.9% monthonmonth. During the June 18 promotion period, major e-commerce platforms offeredbig discounts, driving the city’s online retail turnover to exceed 100 billion yuan, an increase of 20% yearonyear.During the Shanghai Snack Festival, 97 promotional activities such as “50% discount” were launched, and sales of 4,700 outlets of nearly 40 companies increased by 53.6% monthonmonth.New products and fashion products were abundant. Under the Global New Product Launch Season,more than 300 well-known domestic and foreign brands have released more than 1,500 new products. For example, LVMH, Kering and Richemontjointly launched more than 100 new products.More than a dozen brands under L’Orealstaged 100 new launches, with sales growth in Shanghai more than 5 times the country’s average.Lego Group’s first Chinese original IP Monkie Kids made its global debut, attracting a viewership of 2 billion. More than 170 time-honored brands including Yuyuan Garden have launched more than 600 new and fashion products. At the Fashion Life Festival in Hongkou District, 500 new local fashion products debuted, and sales doubled yearonyear. The city has stepping up efforts to lure first-of-its-kind stores to settle locally. In the second quarter, more than 240 first-of-its-kind stores and flagship stores were opened in the city, three times more than the first quarter. The world’s largest Huawei flagship store officially opened at Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall.People could enjoy products and foods from all over the world without leaving Shanghai.The Imported Commodity Festival and the Global Food Festival were created to allow consumers to buy products and eat foods from all over the world without leaving Shanghai. The Imported Commodity Festivalrevolved around the theme of “turning CIIE exhibits to products for sale,” and launched 14,000 high-quality imported products, driving sales of over 900 million yuan. For example, the sales of HongqiaoPinhui increased by nearly five times compared with the previous month, and the Greenland Global Commodity TradingHub achieved sales of nearly 200 million yuan. Metro and Carrefourlaunched large-scale promotional activities for imported goods. The Global Food Festival hosted by Shanghai Restaurants Cuisine Association has attracted more than 2,000 stores from 370 catering brands in 42 countries. The Pudong New Area launched the International Quality Life Festival to guide consumers to have direct access to Harrods and other European and American department stores, with 10-day sales reaching 130 million yuan. Enterprises benefited and employment was promoted.The effective recovery in market demand has driven the production and operation of enterprises, especially small, medium and micro enterprises, and has ensured the stable operation of market players. Alipay data showed that the city’s nearly 260,000 small stores have achieved positive year-on-year revenue growth. In May, the city’s wholesale and retail industry had 12,784 newly registered enterprises, an increase of 28.8% yearonyear. The shopping festival has also spawned a number of new occupations and new industries. For example, the online Youth Life Festival held by the Shanghai Committee of China Communist Youth League attracted public attention to new occupations such as wardrobe planners, secret room planners, and pet photographers, and has stimulated new industries such as self-study rooms, surfing halls, and Hanfu experience halls. During the Night Life Festival, more than 50 special markets, such as AnyiStreet in Jing’an District, FengjingStreet on the Bund in Huangpu District, and Night Party in Sinan Mansions, have created new employment opportunities. In addition, the first batch of 55 stores and counters have been identified for campaigns to leverage consumption to bolster poverty alleviation, together with special sales zones set up on e-commerce platforms. The first round saw sales of more than 10,000 tons of special agricultural and sideline products that come from the designated areas that need support.

(4) Brands were promoted. The brand effect of Double Five Shopping Festival has taken shape rapidly. After the release of the plan of the May 5 Shopping Festival, there were more than 170,000 pieces of relevant news reports and over 14 million search results on Baidu. The connotation of “Shanghai Shopping” was enriched. The May 5 Shopping Festival presented the important results of the three-year action plan of “Shanghai Shopping,” and displayed the image of “the latest and most fashionable brands, the best shopping environment, and the highest cost-effectiveness.” At the same time, a number of new activities such as Global New Product Launch Season, Shanghai International Cosmetics Festival, Night Festival and Fashion Life Festival, as well as “Cloud Shopping”, “Cloud Window Shopping,” livestreaming e-commerce, social e-commerce and other new models and formats, have injected new vitality and power into the “Shanghai Shopping” brand. The synergies of the “Four Brands” were realized quickly. The Double FiveShopping Festival not only improved the experience of “Shanghai Shopping,” but also strengthened the linkage effect of “Four Brands,” further expanding the coverage of “Shanghai Service,” highlighting the reputation of “Shanghai Manufacturing,” and showing the identity of “Shanghai Culture.” For example, China UnionPay, together with major banks, issued 130 million yuan in consumer vouchers through the Cloud Flash Payment app, and launched various promotional activities in cooperation with local commercial enterprises. China Eastern Airlines launched its first “Weekend Flight” product to help restart the shopping, tourism, hotel and other consumer chains in Shanghai.As another example, the made-in-Shanghai campaign launched more than 1000 state-of-the-art, high-tech and chic made-in-Shanghai innovations in the light industry, textile and intelligent hardware, with a large number of high-tech products in Shanghai, such as Internet-connected cars, 5G robots and smart CT, becoming popular in livestreaming events. The Shanghai Municipal Press and Publication Bureau organized 25 bookstores including DayinBookmallto launch a late-night bookstore festival, and 46 museums including the Shanghai Museum launched the “Wonderful Night at the Museum” campaign, providing new experiences such as night reading and night tour for the general public.

(5) Confidence was boosted. The successful holding of the Double Five Shopping Festival, as a large-scale consumer festival that resumed in due course around the world during the epidemic, demonstrated Shanghai’s ability to effectively control the epidemic, showed the charm of China’s domestic market, and sent out a strong signal of economic recovery and improved confidence to investors at home and abroad.

II. Main practices and experiences of organizing the first Double Five Shopping Festival

(1) Adhere to systematic planning and promote coordinated efforts. The successthe Double Five Shopping Festival is the result of timely planning and strong promotion by the CPC Shanghai Committee and the Shanghai Municipal Government, as well as the result of active participation and joint efforts by the entire city. The committee and the government have attached great importance to the preparation of the Double Five Shopping Festival, conducting dedicated research and deployment work. Focus on top-level design. The Shanghai Commission of Commerce, together with various districts and governmental departments, have widely listened to opinions and suggestions from all parties. With a two-wheel focus on "policy +activities" and the full coverage of local platforms and merchants, end products and consumers, the city has timely formulated 12 policy measures in four areas including “one major festival,” “five major shopping scenarios,” “four economic drivers” and “one grand environment.” Meanwhile, as concerted efforts to promote consumption, a total of 16 special activities have been rolled out, on top of the design and registration of the festival’s logo and making promotional videos for the campaign. Strengthen synergy. The coordination mechanism of the Double Five Shopping Festival is established based on the leading group of the construction of an international consumption city. Various districts, governmental departments, organizations, as well as major platforms, enterprise groups and trade associations, have been actively devoted to the campaign to ensure the smooth holding of the shopping festival.

(2) Adhere to government guidance and market dominance. Based on the relationship between government and market, the city has given full play to the role of market entities, accelerating the formation of economic of scale and spillover effects. Maximize the government’s leverage on market forces. The city has constructed a fair and efficient market competition environment by integrating government forces and social resources at all levels. This will serve to improve policy initiatives, innovate administrative methods, and guide cross-sectoral collaboration among platforms of huge traffic, manufacturers, retailers and service providers in order to form joint forces. Give full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of types of market subjects. Various platforms and enterprises have independently issued all kinds of vouchers, shopping coupons, carried out unique and innovative promotional campaigns, and provided various merchandise and considerate services. These combined have contributed to daily campaigns and weekly highlights throughout the festival. Actively give full play to the bonding role of trade groups. Institutions and organizations including the city’s car sales industry association, single-use card association, home appliance association, gold jewelry association, the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall Enterprise Federation, characteristic business district alliance have all taken initiatives to build platforms, connect resources and strengthen services to widely mobilize the participation of enterprises in respective sectors to be part of the shopping festival.

(3) Adhere to extensive mobilization and universal participation of citizens. The city has made use of all kinds of publicity resources in innovative ways to enhance the brand influence of the Double Five Shopping Festival in a systematic and all-round way. The comprehensive coverage of the event by all media outlets has received warm responses. The Publicity Department of the CPC Shanghai Committee has given full support to the event. The Information Office of the Shanghai Municipality has held four press conferences to respond to media queries. News outlets under the auspices of the central government, major media organizations in Shanghai, and district-level media convergence centers have all covered the event in width and depts. Create a ubiquitous shopping atmosphere. Nearly 80,000 spots, including the city’s major landmark buildings, big screens across key shopping districts, and subway station halls have all displayed promotional videos on Shanghai’s pledge to be an international shopping city as well as relevant logos of the Double Five Shopping Festival. Key mobilization campaigns are launched on the micro landing page of the Double Five Shopping Festival, and relevant media outlets have released easy-to-comprehend shopping tips and “good bargain” calendars to allow consumers to have a convenient command of all types of activities and preferential deals. Popular sites like Douyin, Bilibili, Ximalaya and Xiaohongshu have organized online celebrities and leading influencers to promote the event, making Double Five Shopping Festival a tagged topic on social media platforms to expand the festival’s national, and even international influence.

(4) Adhere to innovation-driven development and lead consumption. The city has actively adapted to and grasped the trend of consumption upgrading, meeting and unlocking new consumption demands with institutional, model and technological innovation. Institutional innovation unlocks consumption potential.The Shanghai Development and Reform Commission, Shanghai Finance Bureau and other government agencies have jointly issued "Several Measures to Promote the City’s Automobile Consumption,” which specified implementation details of auto replacement policies and subsidies on charging facilities upon new energy car purchase in a bid to promote the upgrade of auto consumption. The joint regulations on individual dish-serving by catering service entities as well as an action plan on “individual food-serving” by the Shanghai Commission of Commerce and the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation have advocated the new concept of healthy catering. The 11 special administrative measures rolled out by Shanghai Customs and the Shanghai Intellectual Property Bureau on supporting export-driven enterprises to navigate domestic market have served to open up sales channels for high-quality export merchandise. The Shanghai Commercial Association published the global inaugural assessment standards for the so-called ‘debut economy’, whereas China Business News unveiled an index gauging the vitality of Shanghai’s night life. Model innovation stimulates new momentum in consumption. The city has given full play to the advantages of large platforms with huge online traffic, anchoring the mutual empowerment of online and offline channels. The campaign has seen the city’s push in the digital penetration of brick-and-mortar commerce entities, the social transformation of traditional e-commerce platforms, the e-commerce expansion of content-driven platforms, as well as the intelligent upgrade of life-service platforms. Major e-commerce platforms and physical business entities have joined hands to adopt new marketing models like “online distribution of coupons + offline consumption” and “platform + shopping malls” that effectively create win-win scenarios for online and offline businesses. Livestreaming has fostered new shopping models, which feature deepened interaction both online and offline, high concentration of resources, and the integration of the professional buyer model and the group-purchase model. It has also given birth to new consumption methods and experiences through the optimization of the “people-place-product cycle.”Technological innovation creates new consumption scenarios. The city has made use of modern information technology, opening up and merging physical and virtual spaces and creating a sound-backed, interactive, real-time and vivid shopping experience. This will activate Shanghai’s rich advantages in market, scenarios and resources, and build the “Shanghai Sample” of an international consumption city deeply bolstered by the online new economy.

(5) Adhere to delicacy management and optimize the environment. The city has ensured the security of consumption under huge customer traffic by adhering to the principle of balancing “epidemic control & prevention and hosting the festival,” as well as leveraging an existing governance infrastructure that allows access to civic services and management of city operations via a unified online portal. Focus on optimization of government supervision. The Shanghai Public Security Bureau has set up a green channel to provide fast-track safety assessment and reporting system management to key activities listed by the municipal and district governments; The “Guidance on Epidemic Prevention and Control in Venues of Night Economy with High Population Density such as Night Markets” compiled by government agencies led by the Shanghai Health Commission has allowed citizens to experience Shanghai’s local vibe, fashion trends and international tide in a safer manner. The Shanghai Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau has exempted fines on minor misconducts of smaller merchants in a bid to support the orderly outdoor peddling by characteristic shops. Carry out safeguard services in an innovative fashion. The Shanghai Transportation Commission has provided precise transportation options to cater to transportation needs aroused from key shopping activities and delayed operating hours of shopping malls and night marketplaces; Shanghai Landscaping & City Appearance Administrative Bureau has strengthened green scenery setup, extended lighting hours of the sight-seeing landscape, and expanded open spaces for pedestrians; Shanghai Meteorological Service has provided comprehensive and precise meteorological services. Constantly improve consumption environment. Shanghai Tax Service has launched the nation’s first concentrated tax-refund point at Shanghai’s Plaza66. The Commission of Commerce and the city’s Consumer Rights Protection Commission have carried out themed activities that advocate care-free shopping. The city has also released an integrity index evaluating key shopping districts and established a service alliance that guarantees the seven-day return policy. Over 5,600 brands have pledged to be part of the alliance, leading to a conspicuous drop in the number of consumer complaints citywide.

For the next step, the city will carefully summarize and promote the good experience and practices derived from the inaugural Double FiveShopping Festival, further consolidate the positive results and continue the deepened implementation of the “12 measures” aimed at spurring consumption. Revolving around the “four economic drivers” and combining key activities like festivals, expos and culture and travel events, the city shall do a good job in promoting consumption for the second half of the year, by maintaining momentum and keeping highlights. At the same time, the city shall live up to the important idea of “cities built by the people and for the people” and plan ahead the second Double Five Shopping Festival to make it an annual event. The city shall strive to turn the festival into an important shopping gala for residents in Shanghai as well as people nationwide, making it the test field and competing ground for new ideas, models, entities and brands of consumption. The campaign is poised to become a global name card and an iconic event to build Shanghai into an international consumption city that boasts the ‘four brands’, and accelerate the city’s construction into a central node for domestic circulation and the strategic link between domestic and international circulation. This will serve to enhance the city’s capacity and core competence and make newer and bigger contributions to satisfying people’s ever-growing demand for a better life.