Taobao wants to grab young people from PDD

Author | Liu Baodan

Editor | Huang Yu

As major promotions and low prices become increasingly routine, the presence of the Double 12 event following the Double 11 promotion is gradually diminishing. Now, Taobao plans to take a lighter approach and adopt a new mindset.

On December 6th, Wall Street News learned that the 2024 Taobao Double 12 will kick off at 8 PM on December 9th. Taobao has launched a brand new "Treasure Hunt" feature, with the platform and merchants jointly subsidizing tens of millions of products, allowing consumers to purchase high-quality items at "floor prices" as well as various interesting products on Taobao.

Discounts, a staple of major promotions, will also be available. Taobao's Double 12 will offer promotions such as a discount of 40 yuan for every 300 yuan spent, category coupons, merchant coupons, surprise red envelopes, and cashback red envelopes for orders.

It can be said that both in terms of event style and content, Taobao's Double 12 conveys a message aimed at attracting more young people to stay on Taobao.

Since Taobao held its first Double 12 in 2012, this year marks the 13th edition. If the Tmall Double 11 is a "brand carnival" where many brands achieve explosive sales, then every year's Double 12 is the main stage for "Universal Taobao," focusing more on small and medium-sized businesses and unique products.

Jin Que, head of Taobao's marketing department, told Wall Street News that this year's Taobao Double 12 is more focused on individuals, including small and medium sellers and consumers. "The core emphasis is on creating interactive gameplay that is lively and accessible, hoping users will come back to Taobao to engage; this is our top priority."

This is also a new requirement for Taobao following Alibaba's new strategic vision proposed last November. Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu stated that Taobao will adhere to its positioning as an internet consumption platform, strategically prioritizing a user-first perspective, with the core goal of enhancing platform stickiness and customer retention.

In recent years, PDD has rapidly risen with its unique group-buying e-commerce model, sharing the e-commerce market with new forces like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu, while Taobao's market position has been declining. The reasons include not only low prices but also PDD's attempts to make shopping fun, attracting many young people.

An insider from Taobao told Wall Street News that many users' e-commerce mindset used to start with Taobao, then move to PDD. She emphasized that if Taobao wants to win back the minds of young people, it must engage them through the shopping experience.

Since the beginning of this year, Taobao has been trying to attract young users through innovative interactive gameplay, such as the "Answer Questions for Free" and "Scratch Card" activities during the 510 Taobao Anniversary Celebration, as well as the "Taobao Sports Games" held in sync with the Paris Olympics and the Euro Cup guessing games.

Wall Street News learned that this year, the proportion of active buyers on Taobao aged 95 and younger has significantly increased, with the transaction volume of users born in 2000 and later growing by 28.28% year-on-year on Taobao and Tmall. Additionally, during this year's Tmall Double 11, the consumption share of users born in the 90s and 00s exceeded 50%.

Regarding this Double 12, Jin Que stated that the first priority is to serve existing customers well, followed by attracting new users, making them long-term users through interesting offerings. Furthermore, users introduced through interconnected methods should also be encouraged to settle on the platform The person in charge of the "Treasure Hunt" event revealed a partial list of items participating in the event, including "Da Bao" priced at 12.12 yuan or 1212 yuan each, such as Apple iPhones, Dyson hair dryers, and small gold beans, as well as this year's popular plush cultural and creative products, and peripheral products that gained popularity from shows like "Goodbye Lover" and "Good Things."

Whether Taobao can reactivate consumers to participate in the Taobao Double 12 treasure hunt event against the backdrop of normalized major promotions still requires time to verify.

What is certain is that e-commerce competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and those who gain users will dominate the market. Taobao has already begun to make efforts. However, it is destined to be a difficult road for the company to pull young people back from platforms like PDD and Douyin to Taobao