Alibaba, JD.com locked in brutal price war this Singles’ Day amid weak consumer spending in China

Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall platforms are set to give out cash coupons and match prices from rivals to win over reluctant consumers
JD.com’s pre-Singles’ Day promotion, themed ‘real cheap’, will see more than 800 million products go on sale for three weeks

Alibaba

Tracy Quin Shanghai

Published: 9:00pm, 16 Oct 2023

Why you can trust SCMP

Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao & Tmall Group is defending its dominance in China’s e-commerce market by offering consumers massive rebates and discounts during this year’s Singles’ Day shopping season, putting a brave face on a price competition against rivals JD.com and Pinduoduo.

Taobao Live is handing out 1 billion yuan (US$137 million) worth of cash coupons from October 12 to 23, ahead of the start of the sales season later this month, according to a statement by the live-streaming platform operated by Alibaba’s e-commerce unit, which is battling short-video apps Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and Kuaishou.

Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, plans to win over shoppers with a promise to offer the lowest prices seen online, according to people briefed on the matter, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak with the media.

JD.com’s intelligent logistics park in Beijing. Photo: SCMP/Simon Song

Merchants on Taobao and Tmall will be invited to participate in the platforms’ “good deals every day” campaign between October 24 and November 11, according to several Chinese media reports.

Taobao & Tmall, the only core business that will remain exclusively owned by Alibaba under a major restructuring, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Red flags for China’s earnings season as Alibaba, JD.com price targets slashed

Meanwhile, JD.com will start its Singles’ Day promotion at 8pm on October 23. Themed “real cheap”, the event will see more than 800 million products go on sale until November 13, the company said.

Chinese e-commerce giants have pivoted to a low-price strategy to cater to consumers who are reluctant to loosen their purse strings amid an economic slowdown and deflationary pressure.

The country’s consumer prices remained flat from a year ago in September, after rising just 0.1 per cent year on year in August.

The Singles’ Day shopping festival, created by Alibaba in 2009, is the world’s largest online retail extravaganza. The annual bargain-hunting ritual, originally a 24-hour event on November 11, has in recent years stretched into a weeks-long event lasting from late October to mid-November, joined by new players such as Kuaishou Technology and discount retailer PDD, which owns Pinduoduo.

02:07

China’s Singles’ Day tempered by strict Covid rules and slowing economy

Alibaba founder Jack Ma in May met informally with the company’s e-commerce executives, advising them to refocus on Taobao and consumers to survive brutal competition and adapt to China’s new economic reality.

JD.com has also doubled down on its “true low price” strategy, launching 10 billion yuan worth of price subsidies and free shipping for a range of products priced at only 9.9 yuan, the company said.

The Beijing-based operator, founded by Richard Liu Qiangdong, is struggling to fend off intensifying competition from Alibaba and PDD. JD.com’s retail revenue grew the least among the three rivals in the quarter ending June 30, stoking concerns about rising operating expenses and falling profit margins.

It remains to be seen whether Chinese consumers will be enticed by the deep price cuts. Lucy Liu, a 27-year-old Shanghai resident, said she was not entirely sure what she would buy during the coming Singles’ Day.

“I already bought things I need in my daily life. Maybe I’ll stock up on some household goods, like tissue paper,” she said.

Post