Every year, 618 tells you something about China’s market that six months of research reports cannot. Real consumers, real money, real rankings. No predictions, no surveys. Just who bought what, and how much.
The 2026 Tmall 618 results are out. Here is what the data says about where China’s market is going, and what it means if you are trying to sell here.
First, some context
618 started as JD.com’s anniversary sale. Tmall turned it into a full-month event competing with Double 11. It now runs through May and June with pre-sales, loyalty unlocks, and category-by-category daily countdowns. The rankings released on June 21 cover the full promotional cycle across 14 categories.
Think of it as the most honest market research you can get. Not what consumers say they will buy. What they actually bought.
Beauty: international brands still lead, but the gap is closing
Skinceuticals and Estée Lauder are at the top of beauty rankings, as they have been for several cycles. International premium skincare holds its ground because Chinese consumers still associate certain Western brands with formulation credibility.
But domestic brands are not waiting. Proya made the top rankings. Bananain (蕉内) is moving from basics into personal care. Chinese brands are winning in the functional skincare sub-segment, especially actives-focused products, where they undercut international brands on price and match them on ingredient claims.
For Western beauty brands, the window to establish premium positioning in China is still open. But the domestic competition is organized, well-funded, and moving fast on Xiaohongshu and Douyin. Standing still is not a neutral position.
Sports: Adidas just passed Nike
This is the number that caught my attention. Adidas surpassed Nike and Fila to take the top spot in sports on Tmall 618 2026.
The driver is nostalgia and retro. Adidas’s classic Samba, Campus, and Gazelle silhouettes are doing serious volume in China. The aesthetic aligns with a broader “quiet luxury” and vintage sportswear trend that has been building since 2024. Meanwhile Nike is navigating a global brand repositioning that created some short-term noise in China.
Salomon also debuted in the top rankings, reflecting outdoor and trail running’s continued growth among urban Chinese consumers aged 25-40. If you are in the outdoor or sports category, this is a segment worth watching.
Apparel: domestic designers are in the room now
The apparel category has its first top-rankings appearances from domestic mid-to-high-end designers: Yamashita, Quzhen, and Zhi He all debuted. This matters.
Chinese consumers used to see designer clothing as either international luxury or local basics, with nothing credible in between. That gap is closing. A new generation of Chinese designers with strong brand identity, Xiaohongshu-native content strategies, and selective distribution are building genuine mid-market premium positioning.
For international fashion brands, this means the competitive set in China is no longer just ZARA on one end and Gucci on the other. There are now credible Chinese alternatives in the ¥500-3,000 range that compete on design and cultural relevance.
The fan economy is a real revenue category now
Pokémon, Luoman Planet, and Kuro Games all debuted in the toys and collectibles rankings. This is not toy retail. This is the IP-driven peripheral economy, the same structural trend behind Pop MART and blind boxes, showing up in 618 sales data.
Game-adjacent collectibles, character merchandise, and limited-edition licensed products are generating real volume. Consumers are buying emotional assets, not just functional goods. The 618 data confirms what brands building in this space have seen qualitatively for two years.
This connects directly to what I wrote about China’s emotional economy. The 618 data is the sales proof.
Food and beverage: Luckin Coffee just entered the top 5
The food and beverage top 5 at 618 are Wufangzhai, Three Squirrels, Starbucks Card, Luckin Coffee, and Fengwei Pai. Luckin Coffee is the new entry, displacing a traditional brand. This is the result of Luckin’s aggressive product expansion, strong app ecosystem, and the collectible cup trend that ran through H1 2026.
For food brands, this shows that speed of new product launches, limited editions, and loyalty mechanics drive 618 performance more than category fundamentals. The brands winning food at 618 are not the ones with the best product. They are the ones with the best promotional machine.
What to do with this information
If you are already on Tmall, the 618 rankings are a benchmark. Check where your brand ranked against category leaders. If you are two to five ranks behind the top, you are in striking distance. If you are outside the top 20, you need to work on a different angle before the next major promotional cycle.
If you are not on Tmall yet, the 618 data is your category analysis. Look at who is winning in your product space and how they are positioned. The combination of pricing, content strategy, KOC seeding, and promotional mechanics that gets a brand to the top of 618 is not accidental. It is a repeatable system.
Read our guide to China’s major shopping apps to understand how Tmall fits alongside JD, Douyin, and Pinduoduo. Each platform has a different consumer profile and 618 performance pattern.
For the full source rankings data, see the Digitaling Tmall 618 2026 full report (Chinese) and cross-reference with the official Tmall platform data.
If you want to build or optimize your Tmall presence before Double 11, GMA’s Tmall agency team handles everything from store setup to campaign management and KOC seeding. The brands that do best at Double 11 start preparing in July.
