China's Double 11 Shopping Festival sees explosive overseas growth

This year's "Double 11" shopping festival in China has kicked off earlier than usual, with overseas sales showing impressive growth. Notably, new consumers from Singapore and Hong Kong have doubled compared to last year.

Nearly 70,000 Tmall Global merchants benefit from the shopping festival, with many achieving double the sales compared to last year. Categories like beauty products, apparel, and electronics are driving strong performance, while the online retail prices of premium Chinese liquors have even dropped below wholesale rates.

In the past, international consumers who were shopping on Taobao had to rely on third-party shipping services to receive their goods. However, ahead of this year's Double 11, regions including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and Greater China (Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) have officially joined the "free shipping zone." Consumers in these areas can now enjoy free shipping on orders that meet a minimum threshold. This has significantly boosted the number of new users from overseas, with the growth rate for new consumers in Singapore and Hong Kong doubling year-over-year.

Among the merchants participating in Tmall's global expansion program, nearly 70,000 have seen their sales double. This year's Double 11 is set to be the longest ever, with major e-commerce platforms launching their promotions earlier than usual.

Taobao and Tmall kicked off their first wave of pre-sales on October 21, 10 days earlier than last year, while JD.com started its "early bird" deals on October 14. According to Tmall data, within just four hours of the first wave, 174 brands saw sales exceed 100 million yuan, and more than 12,000 brands experienced growth rates of over 100%. Categories such as apparel, beauty products, and electronics (3C) have all shown strong performance.

Under the pressure of intense discounts, the online retail prices of several premium Chinese liquors have dropped below offline wholesale prices. For example, the price of Feitian Maotai recently fell below 2,015 yuan per bottle, more than 170 yuan lower than the wholesale price. Other renowned brands like Wuliangye and Jiannanchun have seen similar price drops. Industry insiders suggest that the sales volume of premium liquors during this Double 11 outpaces even the 6.18 mid-year shopping festival, with some distributors selling at lower prices to recoup funds quickly.

Additionally, for the first time, this year's Double 11 discounts are being supplemented by government subsidies, further fueling the surge in home appliance sales. In the first hour of pre-sales, large home appliances saw sales skyrocket by 765% compared to the same period last year. Taobao Group predicts that, with consumer sentiment in China improving, this year's Double 11 could see the highest number of buyers in the event's history.

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