Malte Karstan’s Post

The how (Q3) is more important than what (Q1, Q2). Q1: "About 185 brands – including Apple, Xiaomi and Huawei – have each achieved more than US$13.8 million in gross merchandise value on Taobao and Tmall" Q2: "Some 37,000 other brands have doubled sales year on year on those platforms during the initial period of promotions, preliminary sales data show" Q3: "Alibaba Group Holding’s sales campaign for this year’s 618 shopping festival is seeing strong momentum, according to preliminary data from the firm’s Taobao and Tmall platforms, helping boost the Chinese e-commerce giant’s prospects of returning to double-digit revenue growth by 2027." https://lnkd.in/g8QCZK-d

Is the Double 11 shopping gala era over in China? Following the announcement that this year’s Double 11 gala has been cancelled, many are speculating if the era of large-scale shopping festivals is coming to an end. Yet, it appears that for many platforms and brands, the Double 11 season remains a prime sales period. The Double 11 gala began in 2016 with Alibaba and quickly became one of China’s most anticipated annual events, even surpassing the excitement of Chinese New Year galas. In 2020, there were four separate galas hosted by different platforms. While Tmall held a lower-profile gala in 2023 following the pandemic, this year Alibaba has opted out entirely as platforms like PDD and Douyin (the sister app of TikTok in China) contend for market dominance. Despite the lack of a gala, sales have remained strong. By October 30, gross merchandise value (GMV) across platforms had already reached 845 billion RMB (91.48 billion USD), with 80.3% of these sales on traditional e-commerce platforms and 19.7% via livestreaming. The top-selling category was home appliances, with GMV reaching 132.4 billion RMB (14.33 billion USD) and a 15.7% market share, followed by mobile phones, electronics, and fashion. The growth in appliance and electronics sales was driven in part by state and provincial subsidies this year. Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall platforms reported impressive growth, with 373 brands each reaching over 100 million RMB (13.93 million USD) in sales by October 31. Purchases through Alibaba’s 88VIP membership surged, showing a 60% increase in member purchases, a 30% rise in average purchase value, and a 50% boost in membership views year-over-year. JD.com also reported double-digit growth in transaction value, order volume, and user numbers, with over 16,000 brands tripling their sales. Please check the original article via Dao insights to know more. https://lnkd.in/emdC75Xi Daoinit Alibaba Group Tmall #festival #china #experience #lifestyle #style #living #culture #double11

Alibaba and JD.com Face Decline in Sales During China's 618 Festival China's annual shopping festivals, 618 and Singles Day, have historically seen soaring sales, yet this year, the 618 event experienced a downturn. The combined gross merchandise volume for major Chinese ecommerce groups dropped by 7% to RMB742.8bn ($102bn), according to Syntun, a digital retail data provider. This unexpected decline occurred despite the participation of global celebrities like Rihanna in promotional activities and significant discounts, including a 50% reduction on Lululemon apparel. The slump in sales indicates that consumer sentiment, still impacted by the pandemic, has yet to fully rebound. This trend is further deepening the divide between ecommerce companies with a global reach and those mainly focused on local markets. For example, JD.com's shares have plummeted by 25% in the past year, while Alibaba's shares have decreased by 17% and are currently trading at a mere 9 times forward earnings, significantly less than their global counterparts. # Thank you Sakura Tanaka for your submission!

How’s China’s second largest shopping festival, 618, going this year? 🇨🇳🛍️ While all major Chinese ecom platforms are still invested in shopping festivals, the focus is shifting. 🤪 Just sales are less appealing. More below. 🤪This year many e-commerce platforms once again extended the promotional period to a month, “enhancing user experience and consumer value” by cancelling pre-sales. Tmall's 618 sales, for instance, kicked off on May 20, and by midnight on May 21, 59 brands had already hit sales over 100 million yuan. 🛍️ On Tmall, 370,000 small merchants saw their first-day transaction volume more than double compared to last year. 🛍️ Interestingly, from May 20 to June 16, Guangzhou Customs oversaw over 52.4 million cross-border e-commerce transactions, marking a 2.6% year-on-year increase. 🛍️ This being said, for years now neither Alibaba nor JD and RED have disclosed their GMV. Here are some 618 consumption trends from the first hours of the sale. 👇 ✔️ In the first hour on May 20, Apple recorded over 1.5 billion yuan in GMV as shoppers rushed for deals. Huawei and Xiaomi also reported over RMB 100 million in GMV. ✔️ Home appliances were big, with brands like Haier, Gree, and Midea each surpassing 100 million yuan in GMV in the first hour. ✔️ Beauty brands like Proya, Lancome, L’Oreal, and Estee Lauder, each surpassed 100 million yuan in GMV within the first 30 minutes. ✔️ Over 200 luxury brands are participating in this year's 618 sales, with brands like Miu Miu and Valentino surpassing their last year's full-day sales within the first hour. What’s your take? 🤓👇 Is there a future for Chinese shopping festivals, or are they a thing of the past? — #china #ecommerce #digitalmarketing Insights via SCMP, Alizila, video via TripinChina on X ❗️ Drop me a message to work with me on marketing solutions for your team.

11.11 China largest shopping festival countdown begins now ! Get ready, shoppers! 🚀 The Tmall 11.11 madness is almost here, and this year it’s bigger than ever! The fun kicks off with the Alibaba Group #Double11 Pre-sale, starting tonight (Oct. 14) at 8:00 PM Beijing time. But that’s just the beginning! 🕗Here’s the lowdown: First checkout window: Oct. 21, 8:00 PM – Oct. 24, 11:59 PM Second checkout window: Oct. 31, 8:00 PM – Nov. 11, 11:59 PM Discover more here : https://lnkd.in/etM2QaT4 🤝Both retailers and consumers are given more time to plan, purchase, and enjoy tailored deals. Promotions are no longer just about deep discounts but about providing better overall value. 🚀 The recent integration of #WeChat Pay is expected to streamline transactions, particularly in lower-tier markets where digital payment adoption is rapidly increasing. 📊Expect an even more diversified products offerings in line with the latest consumers’ trends towards sports performance, health supplements, niche fragrances & accessories, exclusive design & home furniture, ultra luxury brands - in line with our Tmall Luxury recent launches John Lobb (Hermès) Hublot & CHAUMET (LVMH), STAUD, Rapha, MAAP, Flos, &Tradition, Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, to just name a few. #Tmall #11.11 #AlibabaGroup #ChinaDigitalEcosystem #DigitalTransformation #ConsumerTrends #CustomerExperience #ShoppingFestival #DigitalEconomy

Singles' Day is a $127 billion shopping festival and there are six months for retailers and brands to prepare for the 2024 event. But in a lower-growth retail sector and against a mixed economic backdrop, what should #retailers and #brands plan for ahead of #Double11 (November 11) this year? Coresight Research analyst Sunny Z. offers her strategic outlook for #SinglesDay 2024, including four predictions for the festival. Find out why Zheng is bullish on opportunities for international brands even as domestic names grow in popularity, which #apparel categories are set to be in demand, and what marketing and pricing approaches #retail companies are set to take for #Double11 in #China: https://lnkd.in/ggs4Y-zb

Earnings reports from Chinese tech companies last week should be a wake-up call for Beijing. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. pulled out all the stops to attract customers to spend during their 618 shopping festival, a Black Friday-like extravaganza that took place during the quarter ending in June. They offered steeper-than-ever discounts on everything from iPhones to loungewear, enlisted A-list celebrities like Rihanna to promote products, and even experimented with a digital avatar of an executive to hawk goods over livestream. But Alibaba’s revenue from its core e-commerce platforms fell by some 1.4%, and retail revenue at JD.com, which offered some of the most cut-throat markdowns, ticked up by 1.5%. https://lnkd.in/di2UdcNZ

🛍️ The 618 Mid-year Shopping Festival is wrapping up!🌟 🚀Starting at 8 PM on June 17, Jingdong launched its "peak 28 hours,” while Taobao kicked off its “ultimate carnival.” Pinduoduo’s 618 promotion also concludes today. During this period, many e-commerce platforms rolled out their year’s best offers. ❓One of the biggest questions this year is whether these platforms can continue to attract and retain consumers without the pre-sale lock orders and maintain steady sales growth. 🔜Stay tuned as we continue to update you with the latest data from this year's 618 Shopping Festival. #618ShoppingFestival #ECommerce #ChinaEcommerce #Jingdong #Taobao #Pinduoduo #SalesGrowth #ConsumerTrends #MarketInsights #RetailNews #OnlineShopping #ChinaDigitalMarket #ChinaMarket #DigitalMarketing #SalesBoost #ChinaMarketing #ChinaMarket #DigitalMarketing #BusinessExpansion #MarketOpportunities #MarketingStrategy #ChineseMarket

3000 units per month. We met with a live seller and their team yesterday to talk about selling our IDAS brand here in China. It's a new relationship so they didn't want to be too aggressive. So 3000 units was their conservative number. 🤔 Some observations from our meeting - 1) Their mindset of thinking of themselves as a department store. They want to curate best in class product value for their viewers. 2) This live seller rolled in with 6 other people, content, video, and strategic operations folks. 3) Some of the more strategic merchants on Tiktok and other channels are moving up in the value chain. Like any department store, they're thinking through their merchandise pricing matrix. This is the second person I've met who has bluntly stated that trying to sell at the lowest price possible all the time is brutally competitive. Our average retail is $125 USD which is very high for this local market. 4) The 3000 units are a sales goal, so unlike a department store, they're not taking on the inventory risk. In my opinion, this is going to favor those brands with flexible supply chain capability. It is so starkly different than the department store buying process in the US. Buyers there are guessing at what styles, quantities, and sizes are going to sell months in advance. Given that the trend is that what happens in China impacts other e-commerce industries later on, what are people's thoughts? For those who don't read Chinese, the bottom of the screen shot says 870,000 people watched this video of her. 😮

Is all this discounting during Chinese shopping festivals harming brand equity? How can brands stop this downward trajectory? We spoke with DLG (Digital Luxury Group)'s Jacques Roizen about how brands need to start thinking about what he calls a "discount detox" to reverse this dangerous trend slowly. It's enormously challenging, especially when sales are declining and e-commerce platforms are pressuring brands to increase GMV. Jacques also challenges the value of GMV as a measurement of success because it doesn't account for returns, which can be as high as 70%. In other words, you could have a stellar GMV, but your revenue after returns could be very small. Fascinating discussion...listen on all platforms: Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and 小宇宙, or click below. #LuxuryECommerce #ChinaECommerce #DiscountCulture #BrandEquity #LuxuryBrands #DigitalTransformation #ECommerceStrategies #PrestigeBrands #DouyinMarketing #LivestreamCommerce #LuxuryMarketing #DiscountDetox #ChinaLuxuryMarket #shanghaizhan #shanghaizhanpodcast https://lnkd.in/gq-WupYu