CHINA’S DOUBLE 11 2023 FESTIVAL: Trends, Growth, and the Rise of Local Brands

China's Double 11 Festival, also known as Single's Day, concluded its 15th edition this November, marking another chapter in the country's colossal shopping extravaganza. Widely regarded as a barometer of consumer sentiment, this year's event showcased notable shifts in trends and highlighted the dominance of certain product categories.

While several e-commerce platforms ceased reporting their Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) for Double 11 since the previous year, Syntun stepped in with their own calculations, revealing a staggering total GMV of 923.5 billion RMB across traditional e-commerce platforms. Topping the charts were Tmall, JD, and Pinduoduo in terms of GMV. Livestreaming also played a significant role, with Syntun estimating a GMV of 215.1 billion RMB, led by Douyin, followed closely by Kuaishou and Taobao Live. The combined GMV across major platforms, both traditional and livestreaming, reached 1,138.6 billion RMB, demonstrating a year-on-year growth of 2.08%.

Despite the continued growth of the Double 11 Festival, the fervor seen in past years has become much more subdued. The theme of this year’s festival was low prices, with Alibaba’s Tmall tagline, “Lowest prices on the internet”, followed by JD.com’s “Truly cheap”, and Pinduoduo’s “Low prices, every day.” This theme can be seen as a reflection of purchasing sentiment in the country, where Chinese consumers are looking for cost efficiency and high value at low prices, especially as they become more rational in their purchases. When it comes to successes this year, Alibaba reported that over 400 brands saw GMVs that exceeded 100 million RMB, along with 38,000 brands seeing their GMVs double year-on-year.

For top-performing categories during this year's Double 11 Festival, Household Appliances, Electronics, and Apparel emerged in the lead.

One noteworthy trend observed was the rise of the direct delivery model for fresh products, expanding its footprint in the market. Local specialties gained national attention, tapping into deeper consumer markets. On JD's platform, Huangyu Xiang from Ningde, Fujian, and Xiao Xiang Nuomi Corn from Yunnan experienced remarkable year-on-year growth of 300% and 237%, respectively. Nanyang Zhunan Hall and Kashgar Agricultural Specialty Hall witnessed staggering growth rates of over 900% year-on-year. Tmall reported adding more than 20 million new purchasing users and over 140 million new orders in markets below the third-tier city level.

Live e-commerce sales continued to thrive, with brand-owned live broadcasts experiencing rapid growth. Interactions in live broadcasts proved effective in stimulating consumer enthusiasm. Kuaishou recorded a 95% year-on-year increase in the GMVs of self-broadcasting brands during the Double 11 period. JD's live broadcasts garnered a total viewing audience that exceeded?380 million, while Tmall featured 58 live broadcast rooms that achieved?transactions exceeding 100 million RMB. Additionally, 451 stores on the Tmall platform achieved transactions exceeding 10 million RMB, with a brand's live broadcast room surpassing 100 million RMB in transactions within four hours of the pre-sale period for the first time. As the top contender among the livestreaming E-commerce platforms, Douyin reported its daily average GMV and order volumes both increasing by over 50% during the festival.

CHINESE BRANDS ON THE RISE

In a notable shift, Chinese brands took center stage this year, dominating the Double 11 festival. According to data from the China International E-commerce Center Research Institute, 11 out of the top 20 brands in total online retail sales were Chinese. Tmall reported that 243 local brands achieved transactions surpassing 100 million RMB, with more than 70,000 domestic brands experiencing a doubling of their first-day sales compared to the previous year. Pinduoduo’s data shows that after the start of this year's major promotions, domestic beauty and apparel became the categories with the most subsidies for joining Pinduoduo's multi-billion subsidy program. Popular domestic brands such as Fenghua, Yumeijing, Shanshan, Pechoin, and Jiaone witnessed substantial sales growth, with some single products achieving sales growth rates of over 20 times. Moreover, Vipshop’s data shows that well-known domestic brands such as Shanshan and Jiaone saw multiple-fold increases in sales.?

The trend towards favoring domestic products has become particularly prominent among Gen Z consumers. These consumers have shifted away from excessive admiration for foreign brands, opting instead to exhibit increasing loyalty to domestic brands, drawn in by improved product quality and generally lower prices. In fact, in a survey report conducted before the shopping festival, over 66% of Chinese respondents stated their intention to increase their purchases of Chinese brands.?

This surge in success for Chinese brands serves as a wake-up call for foreign brands seeking to establish or expand their presence in the Chinese market. The lesson learned is clear: merely being foreign is no longer sufficient to drive sales and brand recognition. Instead, understanding unique selling points and effectively competing with domestic counterparts, who have the advantage of being able to conduct New Product Development directly for Chinese consumers, is key for sustained success in the ever-evolving Chinese consumer landscape.