Dip in e-commerce festival sales adds more woes to China’s economic crunch

Sales fell for the first time ever at China’s blowout mid-year e-commerce sales festival as consumers remain cautious about spending as the economy sputters, according to third-party data estimates released on Wednesday.

Combined gross merchandise volume (GMV), a widely used proxy for e-commerce sales, reached 742.8 billion yuan ($102.36 billion) across China’s major online platforms during the so called “618” shopping event, 7% lower than the same period last year, digital retail data provider Syntun said.