Douyin starts on October 8th, Kuaishou on October 10th, Xiaohongshu on October 12th, Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo on October 14th

This year's "Singles' Day" came unexpectedly early.

"This year's 'Singles' Day' started too early!" After the National Day holiday, Wang Yang, who had just returned from his hometown, was doing a thorough cleaning at home this Sunday and suddenly saw the news that 'Singles' Day' had already started while clearing out his inventory. "The toilet paper and trash bags at home are almost gone, and the original mop is broken. I just wanted to check the price, but I didn't expect that when I opened a few apps, they all popped up with news that 'Singles' Day' was about to start. Taobao and JD.com both started pre-sales on October 14th and will collect final payments on October 20th," Wang Yang described 'Singles' Day' to the Institute of New Knowledge as being as fast as lightning.

Image source: Li Jiaqi's Taobao live broadcast room

"I thought I was seeing things or misunderstanding something, but then I looked at Xiaohongshu and found that it was not only true but that 'Singles' Day' activities had already started on Douyin, and even right after National Day."

In fact, this is also a new trend emerging this year for 'Singles' Day. Without exception, all major e-commerce platforms have advanced the pre-game time for 'Singles' Day', striving not only for a blitzkrieg but also for a time so early that consumers are caught off guard - accidentally missing the earliest pre-sale stage and having to watch helplessly as other shoppers exclaim "Long live benefits!"

Since its inception in 2009, 'Singles' Day' has entered its 16th year. Every year, 'Singles' Day' serves as a reference guide for how platforms will operate in the next stage. Unlike the booming first decade or the purely price war atmosphere of recent years, will this year's 'Singles' Day become a new watershed?

01

'Singles' Day' is starting earlier and earlier, and neither buyers nor sellers are adapting well

"It's annoying! Who can participate when they've just traveled during National Day, just resumed work, and are very busy?"

Wei Nan just returned from a trip to Beijing during National Day and was extremely busy during the first working week upon his return. "Just back, I had a lot of things to handle. When I got home, I collapsed on the sofa and didn't want to do anything but scroll through my phone," Wei Nan said to the Institute of New Knowledge.

Scrolling through his phone only added more concerns. "I saw them grabbing red envelopes in their live broadcasts. At first, I didn't pay much attention, but later I noticed that many live broadcasts were doing it. After some research, I found out that this is this year's new gameplay, and these red envelopes can also be used during 'Singles' Day," Wei Nan explained.

Image source: A top anchor's live broadcast room on Taobao

Starting from around September, when browsing live broadcasts from well-known Taobao anchors such as "Make Friends," "Bee Surprise Society," and "Mushroom Comes," you may have noticed a prominent notification on the live broadcast interface: "You can claim a deposit red envelope 30 times a day, with a maximum of 100 yuan each time." It is reported that this is a new gimmick introduced this year by Taobao live broadcasts, where consumers need to stay in the live broadcast room for an extended period to grab red envelopes and benefit from the offer.

"Even more ridiculous is that I just noticed that Taobao's 'Singles' Day pre-sales start tomorrow." It is reported that this year's 'Singles' Day pre-sales on Tmall will begin on October 14th, 10 days earlier than last year. JD.com and Pinduoduo will also start on October 14th.

Image source: JD.com

Meanwhile, Xiao Lu candidly admitted that over the years, 'Singles' Day' has been starting earlier and earlier. "From the original November 11th to November 1st and then to October 24th, now it starts right after the National Day holiday. I'm afraid I won't get a good deal or that I'll buy something and not use it, so I keep following trends and wasting money on too many things!"

In contrast, Wang Ran's complaint took a different approach: "Do these platforms even consider working people? We just spent a lot of money after National Day, and many of us don't get paid until the 15th. You start pre-sales on the 14th, and I don't have the money to buy anything even if I want to!"

Image source: Xiaohongshu

In addition to consumers, merchants are also dissatisfied.

He Keling saw a merchant's complaint post on a social platform that seemed to echo her sentiments. "Should we participate in this year's 'Singles' Day event? If we do, we'll definitely lose money, but if we don't, we won't get any traffic," she wondered, unsure whether to join the first wave of activities. "I didn't participate in 618, and there were basically no orders. This 'Singles' Day' is dragging on for so long; it's frustrating," she said.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

After consulting with Taobao customer service, He Keling was informed that the deadline for registration this year was October 22nd. In the past, if merchants didn't want to participate in the first wave of activities, they could participate separately in the second wave. However, this year, it seems that both waves must be registered. "This battle is being dragged out for so long, and we have to endure a month of discounts like 'buy 300 and get 50 off.' It's just very frustrating," she said.

Many merchants shared similar sentiments in the comments section of the post. "It's taking too long, with discounts like 'buy 300 and get 50 off' and miscellaneous fees. Plus return insurance, there's no money to be made," they complained.

From consumers to merchants, there is both surprise and criticism about the early start of 'Singles' Day.

02

Seeking change under pressure, platforms have no choice but to extend the battleground

If you were surprised to see Taobao starting 'Singles' Day on October 14th, you were not surprised enough. There are even earlier starters.

As early as October 8th, Douyin kicked off its big promotion, and even released brand battle reports on the same day, with an early access period reaching October 17th.

Image source: Douyin

Another major live e-commerce platform, Kuaishou, also got off to a quick start, with its 'Singles' Day merchant recruitment starting on September 19th and pre-sales beginning on October 10th.

Xiaohongshu, which entered the market later and holds the banner of "lifestyle e-commerce," started on October 12th, while JD.com and Pinduoduo both kicked off at 8 pm on October 14th, although they differed from Taobao in that they did not have a pre-sale period and went straight into the purchasing period.

Specifically, compared to last year, the platform with the most significant change in event duration is Taobao Tmall: pre-sales started on October 14th, 10 days earlier than in 2023 and 2022; JD.com started 9 days earlier; Douyin started 7 days earlier; and Pinduoduo started 6 days earlier.

Currently, the consumption atmosphere is sluggish, combined with the peaking of mobile internet growth, making retail difficult to revive. Even for online retail, the cost of acquiring traffic during promotional periods is increasing. In fact, last year's 'Singles' Day already marked a low point in recent years. According to statistics from Shangguan News, last year's 'Singles' Day Baidu search index hit a "freezing point" over the past decade, with peak search volume down 60% from the same period in 2022. The hottest topic on Weibo was "Is 'Singles' Day not selling anymore?"

Image source: Shangguan News

During this year's 618 period, platforms abolished the pre-sale system, but even under this "haircut declaration," there was not much improvement. Despite being completely free from the well-known Black Swan effects of previous years, the industry was fully engaged in a low-price and service war, which ultimately resulted in the first sales decline in 16 years during 618. According to StarChart data, the total sales during the 2024 618 period amounted to 742.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of nearly 7%.

Image source: StarChart data

Perhaps realizing the dire consequences of price wars and vicious competition, major platforms decided to pull back after a chill, slowly abandoning their pursuit of "absolute low prices" while loosening policies that have long been criticized, such as "full refunds" without returns.

While platforms are indeed gradually reducing pressure on merchants, this still cannot change the fact that they are under severe pressure. In the second quarter, Taobao's revenue decreased by 1% year-on-year, while JD.com's revenue increased slightly by 1.2%. Although Pinduoduo continued to show strong growth in its financial reports, it has been criticized by merchants due to factors such as "full refunds" without returns, leading to continuous protests from its merchant base.

Against this backdrop, everyone has set their sights on this year's 'Singles' Day. Getting the timing right is crucial, as those who do will be the first to reap the benefits of sales. Conversely, those who don't start early enough will fall behind, but starting too early can overburden the platform's operations, lead to consumer fatigue, dissipate enthusiasm, and make it difficult to concentrate spending power efficiently, resulting in a lose-lose situation.

These platform anxieties are not unfounded.

In recent years, it has become a consensus within the industry that the "festival" and "carnival" feelings brought about by 'Singles' Day' have gradually faded. With the rise of live e-commerce, major e-commerce promotions have become routine, with "daily promotions and monthly festivals" almost becoming commonplace in live broadcasts. 'Singles' Day' no longer necessarily means the lowest prices of the year - as early as last year, two incidents involving Li Jiaqi exposed this fact: a 10-yuan eyebrow pencil sold for 79 yuan, and a bottom price agreement that prohibited other platforms from lowering prices.

Image source: The "bottom price agreement" dispute between Li Jiaqi and JD.com during last year's 'Singles' Day

"But after all, it's the annual grand promotion that attracts attention from across the internet, and we can't miss it," merchant Yao Wei told the Institute of New Knowledge.

In fact, platforms are precisely capitalizing on this psychology. Although many merchants complain, the vast majority will still participate. Taobao alone has accumulated over 6 million newly opened stores this year. Similarly, due to the extended duration, more consumers will participate. Wu Jia, President of the Taobao User Platform Business Unit, confidently stated at the recent Tmall 'Singles' Day press conference, "This year, we expect the largest number of purchasing users in the history of Tmall 'Singles' Day."

When traffic dividends were still abundant, and there were only two or three platforms, it was feasible to focus on accumulating strength over time. However, now that the growth of the market is slowing down and there are more players, platforms must extend their battleground and create more opportunities to capture the market. Failure to do so could result in falling behind or even being left out entirely.

03

Final Thoughts

For platforms, starting 'Singles' Day earlier can help attract attention, increase traffic, and provide more room for timely policy adjustments. In the past, there may have been many concerns, but as the e-commerce battlefield has entered the red ocean, it is better to use subsidies and low prices to attract customers while consumers' willingness to spend has not yet faded.

As for consumers and merchants? When all platforms start 'Singles' Day earlier and earlier, it's as if all platforms are still standing still for both consumers and merchants. If everyone does the same, there's no need to worry, right?

Note: All interviewees in this article are using pseudonyms.

Edited by Ding Li