By CHENG Lu

Tmall will offer the biggest markdowns ever during this year’s 618 shopping festival. Customers will get a 50-yuan discount on every 300 yuan they pay (roughly 17 percent off. For last year’s Singles Day shopping event customers got 40-yuan back on every 300. 

Tmall’s announcement also promises a “pleasant surprise,” to be revealed soon. Stores can sign up for the event from May 18. Presale will start on May 26 and the event will run until June 20.

But vendors are far from enthusiastic. Covid and logistics problems have already cost them a lot of money.

“Now comes the shopping event. It is us who have to pay all the discounts,” said one business owner. “If you don’t go along with the discounts, you don’t appear in top search results, so no one clicks on your store.”

Alibaba said it will offer incentives to businesses, but some stores have already priced in future discounts.