Apple To Hold Its First Ever E-commerce Live Event

As China’s “618” shopping festival is drawing near, the Apple Store Official Flagship announced that it will conduct its first ever e-commerce live event. The event will take place at 19:00 on May 31 on Tmall, marking the first time that Apple has officially organized a live event on an e-commerce platform.

The “618” shopping festival, which takes place on June 18th, is one of China’s largest online shopping days, similar to the Black Friday shopping event in the United States. It was initiated by JD.com and has since been adopted by other e-commerce platforms, including Tmall, one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in China. This event is seen as a mid-year counterpart to the “Double 11” shopping festival, which occurs on November 11th and is the world’s largest online shopping day.

Apple’s decision to hold a live event during this festival may be a strategic move to boost its sales in the Greater China region. According to Apple’s Q2 2023 financial report (ending April 1, 2023), revenue from the Greater China region has experienced another decline, dropping by 2.89% year-on-year to $17.812 billion. In the first quarter, revenue from the Greater China region was $23.905 billion, down 7.28% year-on-year.

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Apple’s live event on Tmall could provide an opportunity for the tech giant to directly engage with Chinese consumers and potentially boost sales in one of its most important markets. This move also highlights the increasing importance of e-commerce platforms and live-streaming events in China’s retail sector.

As Apple continues to navigate the changing economic landscape, this live event could be a new approach for the company to reach its customers and adapt to the growing digital economy.