This year’s Taobao Tmall “Double 11” gala (also known as Cat Night) will be canceled, reported by mainland media, as the economy declines and consumers tighten their budgets. The cancellation of this year’s Taobao Tmall “Double 11” gala has been referred to by the media as “the end of a consumer era.”
This year’s “Double 11” started on October 24, 10 days earlier than last year, making it the longest “Double 11” in history. The gameplay has become increasingly complex, with simple shopping turning into hoarding, which has been criticized by consumers.
Many consumers complained this year that some pre-sale products during “Double 11” were more expensive than direct purchases, and the event was full of endless requirements for combined discounts and complex rules for using vouchers. Prices dropped immediately after the pre-sale period ended, turning consumers into “cabbage people”… Various doubts have arisen.
After the end of the epidemic lockdown, China has fallen into a dilemma of monetary tightening, with the once significant “Double 11” shopping festival, which is considered an important indicator of consumer confidence, becoming more deserted year by year. Chinese people have a very pessimistic outlook for the future.
On October 30, according to “Wandian” reports, Taobao Tmall’s “Double 11” gala will no longer be held.
Taobao Tmall has not responded to this news.
The “Double 11” promotion originated in 2009 when Taobao (Tmall) held an online promotion event on November 11, which far exceeded expectations in sales volume. Hence, “Double 11” became a fixed date for Taobao to hold large-scale promotional activities.
The Taobao Tmall “Double 11” gala, also known as “Cat Night,” originated in 2015 to celebrate the “Double 11” shopping festival. It was a gala jointly organized by Alibaba and Hunan Satellite TV.
Subsequently, the “Double 11” gala extended beyond Alibaba and became the standard for the industry’s “Double 11.” In 2020, the Double 11 gala reached its peak, with four galas held simultaneously that year, organized by TV stations including Hunan Satellite TV, Zhejiang Satellite TV, Jiangsu Satellite TV, and Beijing Satellite TV, each inviting more than 50 to over 70 celebrities.
In 2022, e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo no longer collaborated with TV stations to host the “Double 11” gala, as it was during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023, the Double 11 gala made a low-key comeback, with Tmall once again partnering with Hunan Satellite TV to host the “Tmall Double 11 Surprise Night.”
In the past, the Double 11 galas used to broadcast real-time sales figures. However, after 2018, specifics about sales figures were no longer provided.
Another significant change in the “Double 11” activities is that many small and medium-sized merchants have started to withdraw from participating in “Double 11.” Huang Yu is one of them, as reported by Jiemian News.
“The biggest harm of Double 11 is that it disrupts the previous operating order,” explained Huang Yu, stating that with the current extended event period, consumers tend to wait and see during the preheating phase. If the order volume surges dramatically during the promotional period, it puts a significant test on merchants’ handling capacity. What was supposed to be done in two to three days now needs to be completed within a few days, coupled with issues like delayed deliveries and compensations.
“If there is no growth even during these few days, the merchants will suffer more, equivalent to having no business for the entire month,” Huang Yu said.
He mentioned that the annual turnover of his own Taobao shop used to be around two to three million yuan, but now it is less than a quarter of that. “Operating costs have risen, various deductions and post-sales losses make it practically impossible to make money.”
The report states that sellers like these are just “small fish” in the e-commerce ecosystem, but when these small fish gather in groups, perhaps the ecosystem will change.
In the early years, Huang Yu was always able to become friends with customers, and the name of the store was specifically chosen by a customer friend, “Although she didn’t write it particularly well, choosing her to write it was particularly in line with the meaning of the store.”
In his view, it was not just about doing business but also sharing good things in the past. In the past two years, he would question whether he was not working hard enough or keeping up with trends. This year, he just wants to lay flat and take each day as it comes.