"I found that Tmall really listens to advice. In the past, people said they didn't want to grab things at midnight, so they just started at 8 p.m.; later, when everyone said they didn't want to pool the order, they just gave discounts directly."
At the first major e-commerce New Year's Sale in 2023, Taobao and Tmall canceled cross-store discounts for the first time, and replaced them with official merchant discounts of 10%-15%. The
platform has taken this small step, which has made both merchants and consumers excited.
Li Tian, who is about to become a mother, said that she recently took the time to prepare a delivery list for her soon-to-be-born baby. In addition to comparing brands, she also had to put together orders and calculate the most cost-effective price. "It takes a whole night to collect wool, and it's a headache to do the math. This time, I don't have to calculate, and I don't have to worry about putting together the order, which has cured my obsessive-compulsive disorder and choice anxiety."
The operators of Fenglai, a food brand that participated in the official instant discounts, also told AI Lan Mediahui frankly: "The store directly benefits consumers, eliminating the hassle of people putting together orders. Annoying. In the past, a 13% discount was equivalent to a 13% discount when spending over 300-30 yuan. It is more favorable and less troublesome. "
It is understood that the cancellation of cross-store discounts this time is a strategy of Tmall, and , JD.com, , Douyin, and other platforms have not yet followed up. At the New Year Product Festival, Tmall took the initiative to make gameplay adjustments, which reduced the burden on the platform, merchants and consumers.
Judging from previous years, during major promotions, the activities and gameplay of the platform are too frustrating for consumers. The cycle is long, there are many routines, and the rules are complicated, so that consumers are losing their enthusiasm for ordering and the desire to participate in the activities. In a word, consumers have become increasingly indifferent to holiday promotions, and even more and more tired of them.
Take the 2022 Double 11 as an example. Major e-commerce companies no longer release battle reports, and merchants have expressed that they “can’t roll anymore.” Behind the superficial "Buddhist" attitude of e-commerce giants, it is an indisputable fact that the growth rate of e-commerce shipments has slowed down during major sales promotions.
How to revitalize e-commerce promotions and revitalize national consumption enthusiasm is a proposition left to each e-commerce company in 2023.
At present, Taobao and Tmall are the first to start answering questions.
Both the supply and consumer sides have been struggling to make ends meet for a long time.
Fangfang, the operator of a snack brand, was surprised at first when Tmall suddenly gave up the strategy of "full discounts across stores". "The two big promotions of 618 and Double 11 last year were quite fierce. The sudden cancellation of cross-store discounts during this New Year's Festival is really unexpected."
Looking back on 618 in 2022, Tmall took the lead in launching an unprecedented discount strategy of 50 off for purchases over 300 on 618, and then JD quickly followed up - 50 off for purchases over 299. The full discount strategy of Double 11 is also similar to that of 618.
In addition, JD Plus members and Tmall 88VIP members also enjoy exclusive discounts. The two major platforms can be said to be better than the other. In the final analysis, they are to stimulate consumption. The effect of
does exist, but it is no longer so obvious. related data shows that the network-wide Double 11 GMV growth rates in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were 51.8%, 43.3%, and 12.2% respectively. By 2022, major platforms have tacitly chosen not to announce their GMV growth rates.
This also reflects from one side that the "cross-store full discount" promotion strategy that has been going on for many years is becoming ineffective.
For consumers, price comparisons between platforms are time-consuming, the gameplay is becoming more complex and brain-burning, and prices are confusing. On the one hand, the appeal of big sales to consumers is weakening year by year. On the other hand, consumers are becoming more rational and cautious in shopping choices, making it difficult to be tricked.
This is also often complained by consumers: "The operation was as fierce as a tiger, and I got a discount of 2.5 yuan."
Merchants also complained about cross-store discounts. Among them, the merchant with the loudest complaints was none other than “My Happy Wardrobe” by popular internet celebrity Zhang Dayi .
For a long time, Zhang Dayi’s store has been a “magic tool” for some consumers during major e-commerce sales. When consumers can't find the products they want, they will go to Zhang Dayi's store to take pictures of the corresponding amount of products, and then refund the money immediately after checking out.
On social platforms, some netizens ridiculed, "Without Zhang Dayi on the way to collect orders, it is like there is no Jerusalem in the West."
The behavior of netizens who collected orders finally made Zhang Dayi "break his guard". During Double 11 in 2022, Zhang Dayi’s Weibo account was suspected to have responded to netizens’ co-opting behavior and removed cheap goods from the shelves.
After Taobao and Tmall canceled cross-store full discounts, some netizens said that Taobao and Tmall deprived them of their "happiness" - "I quite enjoy cooperating, we have Zhang Dayi!"
In this regard, AI Blue Media Hui found that during this New Year's Festival, the merchant "My Happy Wardrobe" did not participate in the official immediate discounts.
In fact, it’s not just Zhang Dayi who has been suffering from “cross-store discounts” for a long time.
More Tmall merchants and stores will also be targeted by consumers to collect orders when they put products of 6.9 yuan and 9.9 yuan on the shelves. "The high return rate has increased the labor costs of our operations. Sometimes the product has been shipped and consumers refund the money midway, so we have to intercept the express delivery." A maternal and child brand told AI Lan Mediahui .
At this New Year’s Day, consumers have further determined their purchasing purposes based on the new rules of the platform, and the phenomenon of immediate return after purchase has significantly decreased.
Tmall returns to straight men’s sales
Tmall suddenly made adjustments to the gameplay during this New Year’s Festival. It was not a “whim”, but a purposeful adjustment.
In a state where the entire e-commerce environment has been carving up all the traffic, Pinduoduo used low prices and tens of billions of subsidies to enter the fourth and fifth tiers and penetrate the fifth ring road. Later, new e-commerce forces such as Doukuai quickly took over the market of traditional e-commerce platforms. This has made Taobao, Tmall and JD.com feel a lot of pressure in the past year.
In fact, JD.com has clearly shown signs of fatigue. According to Huxiu statistics, in 2022, JD.com's net revenue growth in the first half of the year slowed to 11% year-on-year - the lowest growth rate since 2018; the year-on-year growth rate in the number of annual active users also dropped to 9.2% - after more than two years of rapid growth, it has once again fallen back to a growth rate within 10%.
Although Taobao and Tmall still occupy the first position in e-commerce, they have to change their mentality and be prepared for danger in times of peace. In the past year, Taobao and Tmall have made many changes to enhance consumers' shopping experience based on the "from transaction to consumption" strategy.
This return to the straight men’s promotion is also one of the most powerful performances. The change in the promotion method will also benefit the platform, merchants and consumers.
First of all, there are fewer routines and return to the business itself.
In 2016, Taobao and Tmall first launched cross-store discounts. At that time, in order to encourage buyers and sellers, the platform allowed related consumption between different stores, brands, categories, and commodities, and also allowed consumers to form effective consumption links across categories, brands, and stores at one time. The effect of
is also very obvious. On the one hand, it allows consumers to stay longer on the platform, browse more products, and stimulate consumption; on the other hand, the user activity of the platform is greatly improved, and brand merchants can also increase sales.
According to iiMedia Consulting , after 2016, the turnover of China’s e-commerce platform has been rising year after year during Double 11, and “cross-store discounts” are indispensable.
At this stage, as merchants and consumers become more and more numb to big sales, it is time for the platform to make changes.
Tmall, which emphasizes “consumption experience”, took the lead in making changes and returning to its original aspirations. It can be clearly seen that Taobao and Tmall have been developing in the direction of "simplification" this year, reducing the burden on both merchants and consumers.
Secondly, the winner of e-commerce is ultimately low price, quality and service.
Recently, at an internal meeting of JD.com, Liu Qiangdong once again described his past victories to executives and JD.com employees and analyzed the reasons for his victory: to win and dangdang , the key factor was price; to win Suning , the key factor was price.
Platforms such as DouKuai and Pinduoduo also directly put the “lowest price” on their promotional pages.
Quality and service have always been Tmall’s strengths; however, Tmall does not have the advantage when it comes to price.
Therefore, when it comes to price competition, Tmall has to show its sword in advance and attract consumers through "straight man-style" discounts.
Generally speaking, in an e-commerce environment full of routines, Tmall took the initiative to break its own rules this time. Not only did the platform begin to have the awareness to step out of the "comfort zone", but it also made merchants and consumers once again at odds.
Source|AI Lan Media Author|Yang Lei
