"Just after the National Day, I got the 'Double Eleven' pre-sale." Some netizens left a message on the social platform. In recent years, “Double Eleven” has started earlier and earlier. This year, JD.com launched on October 9, 5 days earlier than last year; Douyin connected with the Mid-Autumn Festival promotion, with a cycle of 57 days; Tmall launched on October 15, with a cycle of 31 days. Why does the “Double Eleven” battle line continue to lengthen?
Changes in consumer mentality
“In recent years, consumers have increasingly viewed the Double Eleven promotion with a ‘normal mind’ and will no longer concentrate a large amount of demand on one day to place orders.” Li Mingtao, an expert on the National E-commerce Demonstration City Establishment Expert Advisory Committee, said that the trend of early start of “Double Eleven” is closely related to the change in consumer mentality.
“I don’t like to wait too long for pre-sales”, “it’s a headache to get the full discount”, “shopping feels less fun”… During the big promotion period, complicated gameplay, express delivery congestion, and after-sales troubles may make consumers give up participating in the big promotion.
"A large amount of marketing stimulation has also made users feel 'insensitive', and the threshold of purchasing desire is now getting higher and higher." Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integrated Innovation and Development Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that it is precisely based on this psychological change of consumers that the "Double Eleven" competition has gradually shifted from a single-dimensional competition of "cost-effectiveness" to a comprehensive competition.
Platforms have adjusted their promotion strategies one after another. On the one hand, they extend the promotion cycle and stimulate consumption in stages; on the other hand, they strive to improve stability and security and optimize the consumer experience.
The reporter noticed that during the "Double Eleven" period in 2025, the e-commerce platform placed "official direct sales" and "instant discounts on one item" in prominent positions on the interface to make the discounts more concise and direct; in response to consumers' demand for "instant enjoyment", the platform's promotions also linked to real-time retail. For example, Taobao's flash sale participated in the "Double Eleven" for the first time, launched a 50% discount on takeaways, and integrated more categories into "hourly delivery" and "half-day delivery".
Taobao flash sale interface during "Double Eleven" in 2025. Taobao APP screenshot
Some platforms also incorporate AI-assisted tools. For example, there is an "AI Universal Search" on the right side of the Taobao search bar, which can generate an exclusive shopping list containing text products, videos and pictures with one click based on recent searches and shopping preferences; JD.com has equipped the "iGo" intelligent search recommendation function in the App 16.0 version, and users can accurately match the required products by dictating their needs.
Li Mingtao said that the large-scale application of AI tools will further simplify consumers' selection costs and improve the shopping experience. Its personalized services will also help improve the sales conversion rate of goods.
Taobao's AI universal search interface during "Double Eleven" in 2025. Taobao App screenshot
Merchants have mixed feelings
The lengthening of the "Double Eleven" cycle means that for some leading merchants, there is no need for "surprise stocking up" and the pressure to fulfill contracts is also reduced. The person in charge of a leading home appliance brand told reporters: "Starting pre-sales in advance this year and preparing orders according to orders have improved the inventory turnover rate, which cannot be achieved in a short cycle."
However, for some small and medium-sized businesses, this "calmness" is difficult to replicate. Instead, they are trapped by platform rules and traffic, and are trapped in a dilemma.
MIA (pseudonym), the manager of luxury buyer store MIA, is still participating in "Double Eleven" this year, but bluntly said that the effect is limited. "Whether the shopping festival is in advance or not, the starting point of the merchants is the same. Now the competition is becoming more and more fierce, consumers are scattered through various channels, and the effect of the activities tends to be dull."
What makes her even more anxious is the cost of traffic: "The traffic fees on the platform are getting more and more expensive, and the cost of acquiring customers is also getting higher. Merchants are competing for exposure. If the platform wants to make a profit, small merchants who cannot afford it will have to be eliminated."
Lin Yayang, manager of the flagship store of women's clothing brand TURNSIGNAL, said that this year's participation in a certain platform's "Double Eleven" was mainly to gain platform traffic. "If you don't participate, the platform will divert traffic to other registered merchants, and we will get very little."
However, she is also trying to break the situation, relying on segmented operations to increase the reach rate. At the same time, she will launch new products in stages and provide supporting discounts, accurately obtain data feedback, and then concentrate on controlling the goods to make the products more targeted. But she is still confused: "No matter whether the big promotion time is long or short, the traffic plate is so big, it is still unknown whether it can really bring about an increase in overall sales."
The picture shows that on October 18, 2025, in the warehouse of women's clothing brand TURNSIGNAL, staff were preparing goods for "Double Eleven". (Photo provided by interviewee)
The longer cycle time has significantly reduced logistics pressure. The "full inventory" and "delivery delays" caused by the surge in orders in a single day during "Double Eleven" in the early years are now a thing of the past. "With the peak orders being shared, logistics and distribution companies can allocate manpower and transportation capacity more evenly, and the consumer experience can be better protected," Li Mingtao added.
Why does the platform lengthen the cycle?
At present, e-commerce promotions have become more and more frequent. Not only are the traditional promotion cycles such as "618" and "Double Eleven" extended, but various holidays have also become windows for platform promotions. Many people wonder whether the presence of "Double Eleven" is fading as big sales become normalized?
The industry generally believes that although various major promotions have diverted many orders, for e-commerce companies, "Double Eleven" is still the most important, most intensive, and most influential promotional event of the year.
During the "Double Eleven" period in 2024, JD's participating users increased by more than 20% year-on-year, Tmall's total transaction volume also increased significantly, and the scale of participating users reached a new high. This means that even if the big promotions are scattered, the ultra-long "Double Eleven" is still an effective promotion strategy.
At the same time, "Double Eleven" is no longer the exclusive battlefield for one or two e-commerce platforms, and competition is gradually becoming fiercer. According to the 2024 "Double Eleven" summary data released by the Consumer Big Data Laboratory of Fudan University, the sales shares of Tmall Taobao, JD.com, Douyin, and Pinduoduo are 38%, 20%, 13%, and 10% respectively. Guosen Securities Research Institute predicts that the GMV (gross merchandise volume) of each company will continue to diverge this year, with Taobao and Tmall's share declining slightly, and the shares of other platforms expected to increase.
Under the competition of existing products, the constant pre-positioning of "Double Eleven" has become an inevitable choice for platforms to compete for consumers' attention and maintain growth.
Chen Duan said that consumers' attention is becoming increasingly fragmented. E-commerce platforms of different formats such as Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, and Bilibili have entered the market one after another, using different front-end tools to divide users' attention. This has pushed up the platform's customer acquisition and traffic costs. Therefore, it is necessary to lengthen the promotion cycle to build user stickiness.
Pan Helin, a member of the Information and Communication Economy Expert Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, believes that as the popularity of "Double Eleven" slows down, e-commerce platforms hope to increase GMV and enhance competitive advantages by adjusting the duration of "Double Eleven". "The longer the time, the better the transaction data looks." Pan Helin said.
He further said: "'Double Eleven' data will become the platform's signature to attract customers. In the future, the platform will pay more attention to data comparison and focus on data optimization strategies, and the competition for share will become more intense."
"Being ahead of the curve" is not just about competing for time windows, but also reflects the transformation of the e-commerce ecosystem from "manufacturing single point outbreaks" to "sustained operations."
In the view of many industry insiders, current platform competition has shifted from "fighting for low prices" to "fighting for ecology." Pan Helin analyzed that GMV was frequently announced in the early years because the market could easily expand in scale. Now, pure numerical carnival has become a thing of the past. Who can better meet users’ expectations, who can build a more complete ecosystem, and who can “retain people” and increase repurchase rates.
Mu Shan, general manager of the Taobao and Tmall marketing department of Alibaba's China e-commerce business group, once publicly stated: "'Double Eleven' is not just a promotion itself, but also a vane of innovation in the e-commerce industry. AI implementation, instant retail, large consumer platforms... every change is expanding the imagination space and value boundaries of e-commerce."
"Double Eleven" enters its 17th year, and its meaning has changed. Chen Duan said that the "Double Eleven" major platforms jointly created momentum and stimulated widespread social attention to e-commerce innovation. "More importantly, the consumption peak during this period every year is more like an annual 'stress test', which forces e-commerce platforms to continue to optimize the logistics supply chain, front-end delivery experience, etc., and promotes the e-commerce ecosystem to achieve micro-innovation and system evolution in practice. If 'Double Eleven' still has irreplaceable value, perhaps it is here."