E-commerce battle: Double 11 promotions exceed 30 billion, the longest shopping festival in history attracts record-breaking customer traffic

Mainland China's annual e-commerce extravaganza "Double 11" started earlier this year than in previous years. The two major e-commerce platforms Alibaba (09988) and JD.com (09618) officially kicked off "Double 11" at 8 p.m. last night. Taobao Tmall started pre-sale last night and plans to launch 30 billion yuan in vouchers and red packets to welcome what is expected to be the largest-ever participation in Double 11. JD.com, on the other hand, continued its practice in recent years of selling goods directly.

Taobao Sets Two Selling Periods

Compared to the past two years when e-commerce platforms started "Double 11" in late October, this year's promotion started 10 days earlier, with the entire cycle lasting for a month, making it the longest "Double 11" in history. Taobao Tmall will have two selling periods after starting pre-sale, from October 21st at 8 p.m. to October 24th, and from October 31st at 8 p.m. to November 11th. JD.com will have five periods from October 14th to November 13th, including "Pre-sale," "Opening Ceremony," "Special Period," "Peak Period," and "Return Period."

Liu Bo, Vice President of Alibaba Group and President of Tmall, stated that this year's "Double 11" coincides with the recovery of consumer sentiment in mainland China. Taobao Tmall serves the largest and most valuable core consumer group in China, aiming to further boost consumer confidence and enhance consumption vitality. He described this year's "Double 11" as an "unprecedented investment" for users, supporting brands and merchants to achieve high-quality growth.

Subsidizing Platform Merchants' Marketing Costs

For consumers, Taobao Tmall offers an official discount of 15% off or a cross-store discount of 50 yuan for every 300 yuan spent, in addition to distributing 30 billion yuan in coupons and red packets. For example, Taobao Live will collaborate with merchants and partners to distribute 2 billion yuan in red packets.

On the merchant side, Alibaba revealed that "Double 11" attracted around 300,000 brands and numerous small and medium-sized businesses, with the number of registered products exceeding expectations. Taobao Tmall plans to invest 10 billion yuan to introduce cross-platform traffic for merchants and distribute 3 billion yuan in red packets to subsidize merchants' marketing costs. Taobao merchants participating in "Double 11" will also receive exemptions from major promotion commissions.

JD.com Introduces Over 10 Million New Products

JD.com also offers various incentive measures to stimulate consumption, such as a cross-store discount of 50 yuan for every 300 yuan spent and an additional subsidy of 60 yuan per day. Additionally, this year's "Double 11" is expected to bring over 10 million new products. To cope with the surge in orders during the promotion period, JD Logistics (02618) mentioned that the "order in the morning, receive in the afternoon" service will cover over tens of millions of product categories and hundreds of core cities nationwide. Furthermore, to facilitate overseas customers and consumers, JD Logistics plans to increase overseas warehouse space by 100% by the end of 2025, with international express services covering all six continents globally