The 7th Shanghai Double Five Shopping Festival had laid on 21 IP events and more than 100 promotional activities across the city's commercial districts, brand enterprises and e-commerce platforms as of the end of May.
The city's tax service administration reports that departure tax refund applications had surged 3.6 times compared to last year, with tax-refunded sales up 83.9 percent, indicating a significant boost in inbound consumption. The festival, running until the end of June, will then transition into the Shanghai Summer International Consumption Season.
A highlight of this year's festival is the integration of culture, tourism and sports. The upgraded Shanghai Shopping livestream has attracted over 600 million views nationwide. The Shanghai Table Tennis Carnival has doubled year-on-year sports product sales in participating malls, while the Shanghai International Flower Show has generated over 25 billion yuan ($3.69 billion) in revenue.
To coincide with the FIFA World Cup, autographed jerseys from top football clubs are on display in the Xintiandi pedestrian district.
"Given the large time difference of the matches, we screen replays and highlights in the evening to create a relaxing atmosphere," said Zhang Jie, media director of Shanghai Xintiandi.
