Alibaba has unveiled plans for its upcoming 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, with global brand recovery being a key focus of this year’s event. More than 250,000 brands will participate, attracting the highest-ever consumer turnout of about 800 million users. Unlike in previous years, the sales extravaganza will span two sales periods on November 1st-3rd and November 11th.
The extended sales period will provide brands and SMEs with more opportunities to reach Chinese consumers and meet their pent-up demand. Livestreaming, which is becoming a key tactic to stimulate online sales, will take center stage, with Taobao Live offering sessions in categories such as cosmetics and electronics. To meet the demand for international brands amidst ongoing travel restrictions, Tmall Global will debut over 2,600 new brands from overseas, and Kaola will also be offering products from 89 countries and regions.
Shopping festivals have become an important growth driver, with last year’s 11.11 Festival surpassing Cyber Monday in GMV sales within the first hours. Brands should leverage them to boost consumer awareness and engagement as they pave the way for long-term growth. Beyond shopping festivals, brands need to develop expertise in using new engagement tools such as livestreaming, which is expected to generate USD129 bn in sales in China this year.
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