Facing up to demand

However, the performance of the beauty and personal care category defies optimism. During the promotion, its sales across all online platforms were 41 billion yuan, down 10.2 billion yuan or nearly 20 percent from 51.2 billion yuan in 2021.

The online sales of beauty and skin care products reached 30.7 billion yuan, ranking second in the list of popular sales categories in this 6.18 festival just after household electrical appliances; the sales of washing and cleaning products increased by 33.7 percent to reach 13.6 billion yuan, taking fourth place; and the sales of perfume and makeup were 10.3 billion yuan, ranking fifth.

However, compared to the number in 2021 (51.2 billion yuan), beauty category sales (skin care, perfume and makeup) declined significantly, while the sales of skin care decreased by 18.9 percent, and perfume and makeup showed a 22.1 percent fall.

It is expected that due to the impact of the pandemic, consumer travel was restricted, and makeup demand weakened in the short term.

Song reveals that her shopping frequency decreased due to the pandemic outbreak earlier this year, which ruined her traveling plans. "Now I have 12 dresses with their tags on and two brand-new eye shadow compacts packed in my suitcase, waiting to be tried out during my coming trip to Sanya," she says.