A report from DFZQ indicates that this year's 618 shopping festival has seen major platforms abandon lengthy deposit mechanisms, shifting entirely towards direct discounts on in-stock items available from launch. As traffic dividends fade and the industry trends towards high-quality upgrades, beauty brands need to adhere to a long-term philosophy, returning to product innovation, deepening brand building, and meticulously cultivating user needs. Brands that partner with platforms offering certain value are better positioned to navigate cycles and achieve sustained growth in a competitive landscape focused on extracting value from existing users.

DFZQ's key viewpoints are as follows:

618 Beauty Market Overview: Promotions Move Away From Pre-sales, Taobao and Douyin Dominate, Domestic Brands Excel in Content

1) Rhythm and Subsidy Changes: The 2026 618 promotion showcased a transformation towards "complete elimination of pre-sales" and "refined, wave-like progression." Through pulsed alternation of segmented nodes like "early bird shopping," "grand opening," and "final sprint," a cycle of "steady sales accumulation" and "peak爆发" was achieved. Major platforms have abandoned lengthy deposit mechanisms, fully transitioning to direct discounts on items available as soon as they launch.

2) Market Data and Category Breakdown: Online beauty sales across the entire period grew 11.4% year-on-year, with skincare (42.5 billion yuan) constituting the major market share.

3) Competitive Landscape: The channel structure shows a stable dual-core feature of "Taobao + Douyin." Taobao/Tmall (44.8%) and Douyin (31.9%) together account for over 70% of market share, followed by JD.com, Kuaishou, and Pinduoduo. Overall, traditional e-commerce platforms like Tmall and JD.com remain the core strongholds for international mega-brands, while content e-commerce platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou show domestic brands leading the charge and driving overall market growth.

Douyin: Foreign Mega-Brands Stage Strong Comeback, Channel Accelerates Shelf-Based and Decentralized Transformation

1) Sales Performance: Douyin's total cosmetics GMV reached 32.535 billion yuan (up 16.70% year-on-year), with facial care products holding the highest share and fastest growth rate. Within facial care, foreign mega-brands like Helena Rubinstein, Estée Lauder, and La Mer experienced a "dip and then rebound" to reclaim the top three spots. The domestic brand camp showed divergence, with Proya and Kans holding steady at the forefront. However, mid-tier domestic brands faced dual pressures from foreign brands moving downstream and rising traffic costs, narrowing their survival paths. In color cosmetics, foreign brand Yves Saint Laurent held firm at second place, while domestic brand MGPIN topped the list for the first time. Former leader Florasis fell out of the top ten.

2) Channel Structure Transformation: Traffic decentralization is significant, with over 570,000 small and medium-sized influencers contributing nearly 80% of livestreaming GMV. Simultaneously, shelf-based e-commerce (product cards) is accelerating its rise. The report suggests Douyin E-commerce has evolved from a singular content seeding pool into a core infrastructure for holistic, long-term operations encompassing "seeding → search → conversion → repurchase."

Tmall: Maintains Core Dominance, Domestic Mega-Brands Compete Equally, Industry Fully Embraces High-Quality "Value Competition"

1) Sales Performance: Tmall's total cosmetics GMV reached 45.69 billion yuan, remaining the main stronghold for international mega-brands. In the facial care segment, leading domestic brand Proya demonstrated strong resilience with its hero products, securing the top spot for three consecutive years since 2024 and successfully breaking the long-term monopoly of foreign brands. Rotation occurred among foreign brands, with SkinCeuticals rising to second place while L'Oréal fell out of the top five. In color cosmetics, Yves Saint Laurent's consecutive two-year championship validates foreign brands' stronghold in high-end foundation, while domestic brands Caitang and MGPIN have taken turns breaking through and appearing on the list.

2) Channel Trends: This year, beauty and personal care categories were included in national subsidies for the first time, with brands like Proya, Caitang, and ReFa receiving direct subsidies of 12%-20%. Furthermore, platform traffic allocation has moved away from "low prices driving volume" towards embracing over 62 million high-net-worth 88VIP members (this group contributes over 40% of repurchases and conversions). Facing evolving platform rules and diminishing marginal traffic红利, brands are abandoning "trading price for volume" and instead doubling down on high-premium new products (the number of new products launched during the promotion exceeding 10 million yuan increased 60% year-on-year, e.g., Winona's 311 Barrier Cream selling out upon launch). Simultaneously, brands are increasing investment in store broadcasts to partially replace influencer broadcasts, aiming to accumulate user assets and better achieve a positive operational cycle.

Risk Warnings: Continued weakening of terminal consumer demand, new product promotion falling short of expectations, intensifying industry competition.