This year Alibaba’s annual Double11 promotion changed structure and become a shopping season spanning 11 days, and in doing so, shattered multiple records. Chinese consumers bought like no tomorrow from Taobao and Tmall to buy both domestic, but especially international brands at steep discounts. The “total GMV for the event was calculated from Nov. 1-11, and easily beat last year’s $38.4 billion figure“
For those that are not familiar with the craze on Chinese e-commerce sites, the format is quite different from what you may be used to. It’s dominated by live-streams and online games akin to mini lotteries with lucky prizes of coupons in different denominations that need to be virtually clipped, usually on the days before each respective promotion starts. This creates a sense of urgency and excitement to snag a good deal.
All these sales equals huge logistics considerations for Alibaba and rival ecommerce sites JD, Sunning and others. I personally ordered a few items from Taobao, but my first order to arrive was actually form JD.com. I ordered it in the morning on 11.11 and it was delivered to the delivery locker at my apartment by the time I got home from work in the afternoon. This is a pretty huge feat considering how many orders are being shipped.
Bottom Line: The Pandemic has done nothing but increase the already sky high demand for online shopping in the biggest e-commerce market in the world. With all the travel restrictions, maybe people are spending that planned experience money on more creature comforts, so this trend is likely to carry on for the foreseeable future.
The Asia Expat 
Leave a Reply