618 Preview: Fewer Gimmicks, More AI

Platforms are betting AI will define the next big sale

China’s mid‑June shopping festival “618” is changing tone. Where previous years leaned on ever‑more complicated discounts and flash deals, this year e‑commerce giants are simplifying rules — and layering AI onto almost every business process. Alibaba (阿里巴巴) has tied its new Qianwen (千问) assistant into Taobao and Tmall (淘宝、天猫) so users can pick, compare and buy by conversation. JD (京东) says AI will be embedded across retail, logistics, health and delivery. Douyin (抖音), Kuaishou (快手), Xiaohongshu (小红书) and others are all rolling AI into marketing, recommendation and merchant tooling. Why the pivot? Because platforms now think the decisive metric is not who discounts harder but who can make selling and buying smarter and simpler.

Rule‑cutting plus AI add‑ons

Across the board there’s been a concerted move to “do less on rules, more on intelligence.” Platforms have simplified promotions — explicit straight discounts instead of complex cross‑store thresholds — to reduce checkout friction. At the same time they are grafting AI into existing marketing stacks rather than forcing merchants to learn new interfaces. Examples are concrete: Alibaba’s Mama engine will run multi‑Agent AI behind sellers’ existing dashboards; ByteDance’s “Qianchuan·Chengfang” (千川·乘方) promises unified AI budgeting, creative and recommendation; Kuaishou’s “Magnetic Golden Bull” (磁力金牛) is being positioned as an AI ad‑delivery hub with post‑campaign diagnostics. The narrative has shifted: 618 is now a stress test for AI’s ability to improve conversion and operations at scale.

From pilot tools to company infrastructure — and the merchant hurdle

Platforms are pushing AI at three levels: tool augmentation, end‑to‑end systems and organisational strategy. Xiaohongshu has created a top‑level AI division (Dots) to fold models and infra into product; JD is extending AI into its logistics “super‑brain.” But adoption is uneven. It has been reported that many small and midsize merchants still haven’t used core AI features or distrust “black box” recommendations. So platforms are using the sale to force trial: free access, subsidies and guarantees — JD’s “guaranteed ROI” plans and Kuaishou’s step‑by‑step transparency on generated campaigns are examples — designed to make AI “free, effortless and visible” to merchants.

Different genes, different bets — what to watch

Not every player is doing the same thing. Alibaba is experimenting with conversational commerce — Qianwen can compress search‑and‑compare into a single chat. JD leans on its logistics moat and is embedding AI across the supply chain. Content‑first platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu aim to let content behavior directly steer product exposure. Pinduoduo (拼多多) has been quieter about branded AI initiatives but its algorithms already shape pricing and matching. All of this unfolds amid global pressure on AI hardware and chip supply — amid tighter U.S. controls on advanced semiconductors, Chinese firms are emphasizing software and platform‑level advantages. Who benefits most? That will be decided not by sticker prices but by which AI actually helps merchants convert, at scale.