Tmall Double 11 has unlocked a new trillion-dollar market

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Wang Xiaojun

In the blink of an eye, Double 11 has entered its 17th year. This commercial symbol, which has long become a totem of consumer vitality in China, has now lost the "stimulus" of its peak period. Shedding its past glory, Alibaba, as the initiator of Double 11, is telling a new e-commerce story.

On October 16, at the Tmall Double 11 launch conference, Alibaba's Taotian Group revealed the core transformation of this year's Double 11: it is no longer just a shopping frenzy, but the first large-scale practical exercise at the intersection of its "big consumption era" and "AI full implementation" strategies.

This year's Double 11 is defined by three "firsts": the first Double 11 of the big consumption era, the first Double 11 with full participation from Taobao Flash Sale, and the first Double 11 with full AI implementation.

As the e-commerce industry's traffic dividend peaks and simple price wars become unsustainable, Taotian Group has chosen to bet on AI, attempting to reconstruct efficiency and experience through technology, seeking a new growth equation for the platform, brands, and billions of consumers.

At the same time, this year's Double 11 is the first Double 11 after Taobao upgraded from an e-commerce platform to a big consumption platform, achieving a comprehensive integration of "remote" e-commerce and "nearby" instant retail, which presents a huge incremental space.

The President's Office of Alibaba's China E-commerce Business Group stated that in the coming years, Taobao Flash Sale will bring trillions in new volume, becoming an important source of business growth for brands.

This consumption event that began in the golden autumn is evolving into a commercial model rehearsal driven by AI and big consumption, reflecting Taotian's determination and ambition to seek breakthroughs and achieve significant growth in a fiercely competitive market.

AI as the Breakthrough Point for Double 11

After Alibaba has made "AI-driven" its core strategy for nearly two years, its largest e-commerce event has finally fully implemented AI.

Tmall President Jia Luo pointed out that this year's Double 11 is undergoing fundamental changes, with its core driving force shifting from mere traffic and discounts to deep operational capabilities based on AI and long-term data insights.

"The platform no longer merely pursues 'traffic torrents,' but instead, through technological upgrades, helps brands achieve more precise user identification, more efficient private domain operations, and comprehensive online-offline integration, thereby finding sustainable growth engines in a diverse e-commerce landscape."

It is reported that during this year's entire Double 11 cycle, Tmall will issue 50 billion consumption vouchers to subsidize users, with some vouchers being distributed through AI's "Smart Benefit Engine" for unified decision-making. Pilot period data shows that the voucher conversion rate of the AI "Smart Benefit Engine" has improved by 15% compared to previous years, allowing for more precise consumer subsidies.

Currently, merchants operating on Tmall can also achieve full-chain AI integration, covering most aspects from operational analysis, product operations, and material production to crowd operations; at the same time, Tmall flagship stores have upgraded to 3.0 "Smart State," aggregating four major centers: shelves, brands, members, and services, providing personalized displays and services tailored to individual user needs through real-time AI perception In other words, in the past, AI was more of a marketing embellishment, but this year, it has become the underlying infrastructure driving the operation of the Taobao platform.

According to Mu Shan, General Manager of the Marketing Department of Taobao and Tmall, AI is definitely not just a gimmick for this year's Double 11. "AI products have been deeply integrated into various shopping scenarios for consumers, allowing consumer needs and quality brand products to reach each other."

Mu Shan revealed that on the first day of the Tmall Double 11 presale (October 15), AI unleashed tremendous potential, with the platform's AI large model being accessed over 15 billion times. Both merchants and consumers are actively using various AI tools on the platform.

The real "usefulness" of AI is backed by Taobao and Tmall's investment in AI product research and development this year. It is reported that the computing power of the Taobao and Tmall platform has increased by 40 times, and the perception of user behavior sequence length has improved from a six-month cycle to ten years, significantly enhancing the accuracy of product recommendations and driving a 25% increase in purchasing efficiency.

Jia Luo pointed out that this year's Double 11 is not only a moment of nationwide celebration but also a starting point for new growth. Tmall will focus on upgrading AI product capabilities, combining algorithms to re-target core users, and supporting quality brands to achieve quality upgrades, opening up new growth opportunities for brands.

Against this backdrop, in the first hour after the Tmall Double 11 presale began, 35 brands achieved sales exceeding 100 million, and 1,802 brands saw their sales double, with the number of brands exceeding 100 million, the number of brands with doubled sales, and the number of active users all surpassing the same period last year.

Big Consumption Unleashed

If AI is the technological foundation of this Tmall Double 11, then the "Big Consumption Platform" strategy is the top-level design of its business model.

In April this year, Alibaba upgraded its instant retail business "Xiaoshida" under Taotian to "Taobao Flash Purchase," competing with JD.com and Meituan for the instant retail market; in June, Fliggy and Ele.me were merged into Alibaba's China e-commerce business group; in July, Hema was integrated into Taobao's primary traffic interface; shortly after, Fliggy was also integrated into Taobao's primary traffic interface.

In August this year, Taobao launched a new big membership system, connecting with Ele.me, Fliggy, and Amap.

The ultimate goal behind this series of actions is singular: to integrate all consumer businesses under Alibaba, achieving a strategic upgrade of Taobao from an "e-commerce platform" to a "big consumption platform."

Against this backdrop, Taobao welcomed its first Double 11 after upgrading to a big consumption platform, which will also provide merchants with greater growth opportunities.

According to data provided by Taobao, 53 million 88VIP members, 300 million monthly transaction users of Flash Purchase, and 1 billion big members will bring the highest net value, the broadest, and the most frequent user base for brands; the integration of instant retail and e-commerce will also open up a new trillion-yuan incremental market.

Mu Shan stated that this year's Double 11 is a comprehensive integration of both online and offline experiences, with unprecedented consistency. For brands, this is a Double 11 where product supply is comprehensive, price management, e-commerce, and store operations are all consistently experienced.

It is reported that in this Double 11, Tmall and Taobao Flash Purchase will work closely together, allowing brand flagship stores to access Taobao Flash Purchase, bridging online and offline, and initiating "integrated operations." The first batch has already seen 37,000 brands and 400,000 stores connected to Flash Purchase, covering leading brands in the industry such as Apple, Huawei, Uniqlo, and Decathlon At the same time, this year's Tmall Double 11 has the largest investment ever, with a total of 50 billion yuan in consumer vouchers distributed to subsidize users throughout the entire period. Not only can Tmall products be used, but brand products that have opened Taobao Flash Sale are also eligible for Double 11 discounts, and 88VIP consumer vouchers can be used.

Taobao Flash Sale has also achieved good results in the early stages of Double 11. According to Wall Street News, on the first day of Double 11 alone, the number of users participating in the "Flash Sale Free Order" activity reached 8 million; the order volume of 88VIP members and the number of users placing orders in the Taobao Coins channel for Flash Sale have both seen significant increases.

Today's Double 11 is no longer just a marketing node that purely pursues GMV numbers, but a business transformation driven by AI, integrating online and offline, with platforms and brands working together. In this transformation, Taotian is making every effort to provide its own answer to the era's proposition of "expanding growth."