Signals Emerging From Singles Day Shopping Festival which is a Barometer Of China’s Economic Health

At 24:00 on November 11, the 2024 China Tmall Double 11 ended strongly. According to data from China’s Tmall e-commerce platform, this year’s total transaction volume has grown strongly, the scale of purchasing users has reached a new high, and the transaction volume of 589 brands in the entire cycle has exceeded 100 million, an increase of 46.5% year-on-year, breaking the historical record. 469 emerging brands won the first place in the trend category. As of midnight on November 11, the number of orders placed by 88VIP members increased by more than 50% year-on-year.

At the same time, the overseas market also saw an explosion of orders. Among the merchants participating in Taobao Tmall’s overseas growth plan, nearly 70,000 merchants have doubled their transactions. Since the beginning of this year, a total of 10 countries and regions in the world have joined the “free shipping zone”, and the growth rate of new overseas users has been significant.

Such a brilliant report card has amazed the world. It should be noted that under the situation of global economic downturn and weak consumption, mainstream media such as the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse have previously quoted the views of well-known analysts and are not optimistic about China’s Double 11 this time. They believe that at the moment when China’s economy is in a downturn due to the real estate crisis and inflationary pressure, consumer purchasing power is also declining, and Double 11 will no longer be glorious.

As a barometer of China’s economy, the data of the Double 11 Shopping Festival can actually explain some problems. The reporter conducted an on-site investigation and took stock of some new changes this year.

Change 1: Merchants do not compete with prices but with quality. In the past Double 11, some consumers pursued low-priced goods and chose to buy and buy in order to get full discounts, and finally bought many useless goods. This year, many consumers have made lists before shopping and selected goods in a targeted manner. Merchants have keenly captured this psychological change of consumers and no longer use the gimmick of “the lowest price on the entire network” to attract customers. Instead, they set prices on the premise of ensuring reasonable profits and pay more attention to the quality and value of products. During this year’s shopping festival, China’s Douyin e-commerce has launched a number of support policies such as reducing freight costs and free shipping in remote areas to help merchants improve quality and efficiency.

Change 2: China’s government subsidies are coming in for the first time. This year, China’s Ministry of Finance has actively promoted large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-in of consumer goods. Subsidy policies for trade-in of home appliances have been implemented in various parts of China, and major e-commerce companies have become the implementation platforms of subsidy policies. On the basis of national subsidies, Tmall and its brands have added another 6 billion yuan in subsidies, and the prices of some home appliances will be reduced to 60% off. In the first hour of pre-sales this year, 139 home appliance brands on the Tmall platform had sales of over 100 million yuan, and more than 9,600 international brands doubled their sales, up 765% year-on-year.

Change 3: Integrate resources to break payment and logistics barriers. This year, China’s three major e-commerce platforms, Alibaba, Tencent, and JD.com, have responded positively to break the barriers of payment and logistics. Taobao supports WeChat payment, and the logistics systems of JD.com and Taobao Tmall are also connected to each other. These measures have not only achieved service upgrades for consumers, but also accelerated economic and trade circulation.

The Double Eleven Shopping Festival accelerates the release of consumption potential. The changes in consumption trends release signals about the Chinese economy. Behind the optimization and upgrading of the shopping festival is the process of China’s economic transformation and innovation.

Since the end of September, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policies to face the sluggish housing and stock markets. Through a variety of financial policies and loosening measures, the stock market has been stimulated to stabilize the housing market. At present, the results are remarkable. During the seven-day “Golden Week” holiday, China’s tourism, housing, and luxury goods market consumption data rebounded. Official data showed that the number of tourists and per capita consumption were the strongest during the National Day holiday in history. The stock index rose from around 2,700 points in early September to more than 3,400 points at present.

In addition, China is also actively exploring overseas markets, and going overseas in all aspects of the economy and culture. In addition to the overseas market explosion of the “Taobao Tmall Overseas Growth Plan” during this shopping festival, in the cultural field, this year’s domestic game “Black Myth: Wukong” has become popular all over the world, and the short drama “My Altay” has driven the global Xinjiang fever. The foreign trade market is even more promising. According to data released by China Customs, in October 2024, China’s exports increased by 12.7% year-on-year, achieving nine consecutive months of growth, setting a new high in more than two years.

A series of data show that this year’s shopping festival in China has won the favor of more consumer groups by extending the front line, lowering prices and optimizing services, and has played a positive role in consumption recovery and boosting confidence. China’s economic prospects are still worth looking forward to.