Looking back, 2021 might have been the most bustling Double 11 yet.
In 2009, shortly after the founding of Taobao Mall, a group of 'fearless ignorants' from Alibaba planned the first Double 11 event on a few sheets of A4 paper.
Is the '6·18' cross-store discount a platform subsidy or paid by merchants themselves?
Who foots the bill for the overwhelming cross-store discounts on e-commerce platforms? On June 8, a Beijing Business Today reporter found that to participate in '6·18' and seize the traffic dividends during the promotion, small and medium-sized merchants often have to pay out of their own pockets for the discounts to keep up with the e-commerce sales frenzy. However, some merchants admit that bearing all costs themselves indeed further compresses profit margins, coupled with the need to pay various marketing expenses at each stage, the operational pressure is palpable. Despite different considerations, both merchants and platforms ultimately favor a series of discount offers, hoping to attract more consumers and convert them into long-lasting traffic.
Alibaba slows down: Taobao drags behind, new businesses burn cash, market value halves.
The past year has been quite 'bumpy' for Alibaba, not only fined 18.2 billion yuan by the State Administration for Market Regulation but also seeing super influencers Viya and Sherry, closely tied to Alibaba, exit the stage due to 'tax incidents.' Under the influence of various adverse factors, Taobao and Tmall experienced their first negative growth, heavy investments in new businesses have yet to turn profitable, and Alibaba's market value shrank by more than half in 2021.
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