Note: The article was first published on TechNode China written by Evan Huang and translated by Zinan Zhang.
As autumn unfolds, the Chinese internet is abuzz with anticipation for the year’s biggest shopping event—Double Eleven. Unlike in the past, this year’s shopping festival launched long before November, as a way for major e-commerce platforms to extend their presale periods. In fact, the constant stream of discounts and sales throughout the year has made consumers less enthusiastic about Double Eleven deals, challenging merchants to draw in shoppers with more than just price cuts.
This may be why e-commerce leaders Taobao and JD.com kicked off their presales on October 14, while platforms Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, and Pinduoduo launched theirs on October 8, 10, 12, and 14, respectively. Meanwhile, competition among platforms for Double Eleven traffic has intensified, with each platform ramping up efforts to engage consumers and maximize gross merchandise value (GMV) while building long-term loyalty.
Taobao and Tmall “break down walls” with JD
Long-time e-commerce rival group Taobao and Tmall and JD have taken an unexpected step this year, putting aside their differences to “break down walls” to expand the market while seeking to enhance consumer satisfaction. On October 16, JD Logistics announced a partnership with Taobao Group, marking a major shift in China’s e-commerce landscape. Through this collaboration, JD Logistics will be fully integrated into the Taobao and Tmall platforms, allowing merchants to select JD Logistics as their service provider. JD’s comprehensive supply chain solutions, including JD Express, will now be available to Taobao and Tmall merchants, covering warehousing, courier services, and transportation across the supply chain.
On October 28, further reports revealed that Cainiao, Alibaba’s logistics arm, will integrate itself with JD’s third-party platform. This integration means JD’s third-party merchants can choose between Cainiao Express and Cainiao’s large-goods services. With the systemic integration already in place, some Taobao and Tmall merchants have opted for JD Logistics, and consumers can now track their packages via the Taobao and Tmall apps.
This alliance could be significant, especially given JD Logistics’ impressive growth. According to its semi-annual report, revenue from JD Logistics’ external customers reached RMB 59.9 billion—an 11.2% increase year-over-year—accounting for nearly 70% of its total revenue.
Dependence on top streamers remains unchanged
Top streamers remain invaluable to e-commerce platforms, driving substantial consumer engagement despite pervasive controversies.
Douyin’s pre-Double Eleven report, released on October 18, highlighted the momentum of live-streaming e-commerce. Between October 8 and 17, 52 brands exceeded 100 million yuan in sales, while 323 live-streaming rooms surpassed RMB 10 million in revenue. Live-stream products reached users over 200 billion times during this period.
This surge is backed by the latest data from the Chinese Academy of Metrology Science, showing that live-streaming e-commerce penetration in China rose from 4.9% in 2019 to 30.4% in 2022, and further to 37.8% in 2023, marking 24.3% year-on-year growth.
AI Reshapes the e-commerce shopping experience
With the rise of generative AI, many labor-intensive marketing tasks, like creating product images and descriptions, sales, and software engineering work, can be automated, leading to significant cost savings. Alibaba, for example, has embedded AI across Taobao and Tmall, transforming its e-commerce business by enhancing the shopping experience and boosting merchants’ efficiency. Through AI-driven personalized recommendations, smart customer service, and logistics optimization, Alibaba has streamlined operations. One key feature, the “site-wide promotion” tool, leverages a “paid-free linkage” mechanism, where AI identifies user intent and applies precise tags, delivering more predictable ROI for merchants. During this year’s June 18 shopping festival, over 1.5 million products saw a 65% increase in GMV within seven days of investment due to this promotion.
JD has also upped its AI solutions portfolio. In March 2024, it introduced AI tools that can cut merchant operating costs by as much as 50%, accelerating product listings and creating realistic virtual digital influencers who host 24/7 live streams. Most recently, on October 14, JD launched a “Double 11” campaign featuring free trials of AI tools for brand merchants, promising to enhance video content production and support various marketing needs, including image and video content creation, product recommendations, and short-form drama content.
AI’s appeal is resonating with consumers as well, especially younger generations. Bain’s survey of over 3,000 Chinese consumers revealed that while 12% of consumers overall used generative AI tools in the past six months, that figure reached 23% for Gen Z users. The most popular AI features across demographics include visual search (using images instead of text), intelligent customer service bots, voice search, and smart shopping assistants, all of which are helping to redefine the consumer experience in China’s dynamic retail landscape.
Conclusion
Behind this year’s shopping extravaganza, e-commerce giants are entering the competition with a more collaborative approach, while the live-streaming arena continues to heat up as consumers hunt down the best deals. Despite the Double Eleven shopping frenzy, the influence of AI in this sector extends far beyond any single event. With enthusiasm for large promotional events gradually cooling, consumers are approaching purchases with greater rationality, looking not just for deep discounts but also for quality and service.
To adapt, e-commerce platforms must move beyond a singular focus on sales volume, shifting toward enhancing user experience and building long-term value. For manufacturers, this means pivoting from a reliance on short-term sales growth to a strategy that emphasizes lasting engagement. AI technology is at the heart of this transformation, serving not only to improve service quality but also to boost user engagement. As AI evolves from a support tool into a strategic asset, it is poised to become a core competitive advantage in e-commerce.
