This year's Double 11 is unusual, and the platform has begun to reduce the burden on merchants

Compared with previous years, this year's Double 11 presents more new features: longer activity cycle, richer promotional methods, larger-scale subsidies, and unprecedented interconnection between platforms.

During the National Day holiday, the consumer market was really hot! The number of domestic tourists nationwide reached 765 million, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%; the total consumption of domestic tourists reached 700.817 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.3%.

Movie tickets also sold out. During the National Day holiday, my country's box office revenue was 2.104 billion yuan, and the number of moviegoers was 52.09 million. Catering and retail sales were also booming. According to the Ministry of Commerce's big data, sales of key retail and catering companies across the country increased by 4.5% year-on-year. The express delivery industry also saw a surge in business volume, with the average daily collection volume increasing by 28.4% year-on-year and the average daily delivery volume increasing by 26.7% year-on-year.

Of course, the stock market is hard to describe. Due to the 926 Politburo meeting and related stock and property market support policies, A-shares continued to rise in the trading days before the National Day, with a gratifying trend. During the entire National Day holiday, many netizens joked, "I am on holiday, but my heart is in the stock market."

However, the stock market has cooled down significantly in the past few days since work started. There are many reasons for this. One reason is that hedge funds have sold a lot, and some shareholders of listed companies have chosen to reduce their holdings. Another reason is that a large number of people born in the 1990s and 2000s have entered the market with leveraged funds such as consumer loans, which has led to the regulatory authorities taking a series of measures: window guidance strictly prohibits credit funds from flowing into the stock market illegally, major banks have begun to strictly examine whether various types of consumer loans have flowed into the market illegally, and regulatory authorities have also begun to regulate the account opening behavior of securities firms.

This cooling is aimed at calming the market. After all, the bull market itself is unsustainable, but in the long run, the goal of boosting the stock market and economic recovery remains unchanged. Recently, the State Council Information Office held another press conference, emphasizing the need to "increase the intensity of countercyclical fiscal policy adjustments and promote high-quality economic development", which once again gave the market some confidence. As for how much confidence there is, we have to see the trend of the week of the 13th.

Some people lose money, while others make money. When you make money, you naturally spend it. It just so happens that Double 11 is coming this year. As we all know, Double 11 is the climax of the e-commerce war every year. At present, Taobao, JD.com, Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu and other platforms have begun to gear up and prepare for a big fight.

So, what are the new trends in this year's Double 11? How will merchants take advantage of this opportunity?

1. The longest Double 11 in history: Nearly a month, the pre-sale system returns

It is not difficult to find that this year's Double 11 Shopping Festival is much earlier than in previous years.

Specifically, Tmall's Double 11 pre-sale kicked off on October 14, 10 days earlier than last year. JD.com was not far behind and chose to start pre-sale at 8 pm on October 17, a week earlier. Pinduoduo also started a week earlier, entering the Double 11 mode from 0:00 on October 14.

Douyin has even moved the Double 11 Good Products Festival forward to October 8, seamlessly connecting it with the National Day holiday. The entire activity cycle lasts from October 8 to November 11, and is divided into multiple stages and theme days, such as cosmetics, sports and outdoor activities, with a very tight schedule.

Kuaishou's Double 11 event was no exception. It entered the warm-up period on October 16, and good products were available first. The entire event started preparations and warm-up on September 19 and ended on November 11. During this period, it also launched multiple themes such as "New Product Big Day", "All-Network Hot Products Charge", and "Smart Life Festival" in stages, giving consumers a sense of freshness every day.

In addition, Xiaohongshu also joined the ranks of Double 11, starting from October 12 and lasting until November 11. This is the first shopping carnival after Xiaohongshu e-commerce proposed the positioning of lifestyle e-commerce, which undoubtedly adds more highlights to Double 11.

It is worth mentioning that the duration of this year's Double 11 promotion has generally been extended, almost to a month. Douyin's Double 11 promotion even lasted for more than a month, making it possibly the longest promotion in Double 11 history. One can't help but sigh: "Is this Double 11 afraid that we are holding on to our wallets too tightly?"

In terms of gameplay, major e-commerce platforms also showed their unique skills. Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo still mainly focus on full-reduction and instant discount activities, simplifying the promotion process; while Douyin Mall's Double 11 promotion focuses on official 15% instant discount and one-piece direct discount, while issuing platform consumption coupons, and brand gameplay, mall gameplay, and live broadcast room gameplay are endless.

Kuaishou has set up at least seven key gameplays, including "red envelopes falling from the sky", "surprise red envelopes", "extra subsidies for hot products", "10,000-person groups", "fan shopping groups", "interest-free installments", and "instant discounts on final payments". To be honest, this has raised the threshold for consumers to understand and seems a bit complicated and difficult to understand. After all, netizens are not mathematicians.

In terms of subsidizing consumers, all platforms have also spared no effort. Taobao has invested an additional 30 billion yuan in consumer coupons and red envelopes on top of its full-reduction and instant-reduction activities, which is the highest amount ever; JD.com has invested 1 billion yuan in resources to support live broadcast activities.

Kuaishou has offered what it claims to be the largest subsidy in history, including 20 billion in traffic subsidies, 2 billion in user red envelopes, and 1 billion in merchandise subsidies; Douyin e-commerce will invest billions in cash subsidies and tens of billions in traffic resources; Xiaohongshu e-commerce has also invested tens of billions in traffic support and billions in subsidies during the Double 11 period.

In addition, the pre-sale mechanism returned again during this year’s Double 11. Tmall launched the first wave of pre-sales on October 14, with a three-wave explosion throughout the entire cycle.

Consumers are the starting point and destination of all businesses. Adhering to the core strategy of "user first", major platforms continue to improve and provide consumers with the most affordable prices and the best experience. This year's Double 11, with the extension of the activity cycle and the restart of the pre-sale system, merchants have ushered in more growth opportunities and business space.

2. The Double 11 Shopping Festival that is most beneficial to merchants: from "10 billion yuan in subsidies" to "10 billion yuan in exemptions"

Last year, the e-commerce world was swept by low prices. JD.com launched a 10 billion subsidy channel, and Taobao and Tmall shouted "price power". Although this wave of operations attracted consumers, it made merchants miserable.

The e-commerce environment has been difficult in the past two years. The return rate has been rising like climbing a mountain, and the cost of freight insurance has also risen. In addition, the "refund only" wool party has made life increasingly difficult for merchants.

However, the trend of the e-commerce world has changed this year. Major e-commerce companies no longer simply pursue low prices, but have begun to care about the situation of merchants and have tried their best to reduce the burden on merchants. Platforms such as Pinduoduo and Taobao have successively launched the "10 billion reduction and exemption" plan, moving from "benefiting the people" to "benefiting merchants."

Alibaba was also very considerate. It directly cancelled the annual fee of Tmall and changed it to a basic software service fee of 0.6%. It also optimized the "refund only" strategy in order to reduce the operating costs of merchants. In addition, Taobao Tmall also launched a series of welfare policies, such as return service, zero handling fee and fast payment, and full refund of 10 billion subsidy commissions, etc., giving merchants a "burden-reducing gift package".

Specifically, the launch of the Huihuobao service has reduced the cost of returns for merchants, with a general reduction of 20%, and some merchants have even achieved a 30% direct reduction in costs. At the same time, the 0-fee quick payment service provided by Tmall during the Double 11 shopping festival allows merchants to collect payments immediately after delivery, effectively alleviating financial pressure.

For merchants participating in the "10 billion subsidy", Tmall will return 100% of all commissions, allowing merchants to participate in promotional activities and channels at almost zero cost. In addition, Taobao merchants also enjoy "rights and benefits packages" such as free commissions for promotions, free commissions for store broadcasts, and unbinding of freight insurance, further reducing operating costs.

What’s more worth mentioning is that Tmall invested 10 billion yuan to purchase traffic during Double 11, and cooperated with more than 200 Internet platforms to expand customer traffic for merchants. Now, Taobao merchants don’t have to worry about traffic and exposure anymore.

JD.com is not to be outdone and has upgraded its "Spring Dawn Plan" to increase support for third-party sellers from three dimensions: traffic support, AI technology efficiency improvement, and ultra-light asset operation. In the field of live streaming, JD.com has invested up to 1 billion in resources and provided free experience of JD.com digital people, return and exchange guarantees, and other benefits.

JD Group CEO Xu Ran was even more ambitious, saying that he would invest the greatest resources, starting from the core dimensions that merchants care about most, such as traffic, operation and service, and strive to provide merchants with a new experience of "more traffic, faster operation, better service and lower cost". He also hoped that during JD's 11.11 period, the number of small and micro merchants with "daily sales of over 10,000 yuan" would increase by more than 2 times year-on-year, and the number of merchants with sales of over 5 million would increase by more than 50% year-on-year.

Even Pinduoduo, which has always been biased towards consumers, has recently increased its platform fee reduction discounts for merchants. Pinduoduo launched a "10 billion yuan reduction" plan, which will reduce 10 billion yuan in fees for high-quality merchants in the next year, including promotion service fees, technical service fees, deposits, etc.

In addition, Pinduoduo lowered the withdrawal threshold for merchants' payment accounts from 100 yuan to 1 yuan, exempted merchants from logistics transit fees for orders in remote areas, and reduced the technical fee rate for all pay-later orders from 1% to 0.6%; it reduced the basic store deposit from 1,000 yuan to 500 yuan, etc.

Pinduoduo has also made service adjustments to the after-sales complaint conditions and free logistics delivery system, which are often complained by merchants. Now, the platform supports merchants to file complaints against abnormal orders, malicious complaint orders, etc. If the merchant's appeal is successful, the platform will compensate for the relevant orders, and there is no longer a limit on the number of complaints that merchants can make.

At the same time, some emerging e-commerce platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu are also actively helping merchants to explore growth opportunities within the platform. For example, Douyin has upgraded its traffic algorithm mechanism, with "content" becoming the key to traffic distribution, and has adjusted commissions and security deposits for different categories. Xiaohongshu has launched a quick marketing delivery tool "Juguang Lite" and a one-stop marketing delivery platform "Chengfeng" customized for small and medium-sized merchants.

Nowadays, e-commerce platforms have a deep insight that building an excellent business environment is the cornerstone of long-term development. Therefore, major e-commerce platforms have taken various measures such as subsidies, increasing traffic and reducing costs to ensure that merchants will no longer fall into the dilemma of only gaining reputation but not making money.

In fact, reducing the burden on merchants is also indirectly seeking more benefits for consumers. By optimizing supply chain management and improving operational efficiency, merchants can convert cost savings into lower product prices, thus truly improving the "quality-price ratio".

3. The most open Double 11: interconnection and win-win for all parties

In addition to the two changes mentioned above, this year's Double 11 also witnessed a new trend - interconnection and interoperability. The Alibaba and Tencent groups, as well as the Alibaba and JD groups shook hands and made peace, staging the "reconciliation of the century" in the e-commerce circle.

On September 12, Taobao took an important step and officially announced the addition of WeChat payment function, which will be gradually opened to all sellers. By the end of September, Taobao had successfully completed the full connection with WeChat payment and officially launched it in its latest version, which also marked that Alibaba and Tencent officially "got the license".

Then, on September 26, Alibaba and JD.com also had their moment of interconnection. Taobao Tmall is expected to be officially connected to JD.com Logistics in early October, while JD.com is preparing to connect to Cainiao Express and Cainiao Post Station, and is expected to connect with Alipay before the Double 11 Shopping Festival. This series of actions undoubtedly indicates that the two e-commerce giants are gradually moving towards integration in the two major systems of logistics and payment.

With the interconnection and interoperability, the "separate governance" situation of the previous Double 11 is gone forever. This year's Double 11 is definitely the most open and inclusive in the history of e-commerce. It not only breaks the "barriers" between platforms during Double 11, but also indicates that it will become an important turning point for China's e-commerce and even the Internet industry.

The e-commerce platforms are so actively engaged in interconnection, which is definitely a wise move of "being superior to others". After all, online traffic is now "more monks and less porridge", and the competitive environment has long changed from "blue ocean" to "red ocean". All major platforms are facing the dual pressure of "snail-speed" user growth and "fighting for every inch of market share".

With the realization of interconnection and interoperability, various platforms can share "hard-core resources" such as logistics and payment, saving a lot of money on duplicate construction, and the efficiency of the supply chain is also rising rapidly.

Take Taobao's integration with WeChat Pay as an example. This move directly simplifies the payment process and reduces the difficulty of users' operation. Those users who previously "switched their affection" due to incompatible payment methods may now "change their minds" because of the convenience of WeChat Pay.

Especially for middle-aged and elderly friends in low-tier cities and rural areas, they may not be very good at using Alipay, but once WeChat Pay is available, Taobao will become their favorite again.

Similarly, JD.com's integration with Alipay can not only improve user experience, but also cover a larger user base. During major promotions such as Double 11, integration with Alipay can also help divert payment pressure from WeChat Pay and reduce the risk of payment system crashes or delays.

For consumers, the simplified payment process undoubtedly improves the shopping experience, and the diversification of logistics options can better meet the needs of different consumers.

This is also a good thing for the e-commerce industry. As barriers between platforms decrease, competition will focus more on essential business elements such as product quality, price advantage and service experience.

Nowadays, consumers and merchants are becoming more rational in their attitudes towards Double 11, and the core concept of industry development is quietly changing, from the previous blind pursuit of scale and market expansion to gradually moving towards in-depth attention to operational efficiency, user satisfaction and long-term sustainable development.

Each platform is also maintaining the Double 11 discounts while simplifying activity rules, optimizing user experience, reducing marketing pressure on merchants, and providing subsidies and traffic support.

In this wave of competition among platforms to optimize the business environment, it is foreseeable that a series of dividends will follow in the future. For merchants, this is undoubtedly a long-awaited turning point. Merchants will usher in a more friendly and fairer competition environment, where they can compete freely and pursue longer-term development. Don’t you think so?

References:

1. "Taobao and JD.com are in a bit of a rage in their race to win the 2024 Double Eleven" E-commerce Reference

2. "Forward-looking layout | A series of reports on preparing for Double Eleven in 2024 are released!" Feigua Data

3. "Double 11 hasn't even arrived yet, but the platform is already trying hard to please merchants" 36kr