E-commerce promotions are cold, and the Double 12 shopping festival is no longer popular. The main reason may be the decline in consumers' shopping desire

In previous years, on this day, i.e., Double 12, all e-commerce platforms would launch promotions no less than Double 11. However, this year is different. Except for Taobao’s “Good Price Festival” on its homepage, platforms including JD.com and Pinduoduo did not make any special promotions for this date. In fact, even Taobao, the initiator of the Double 12 concept, did not put much effort into promoting this big promotion this year.

Analysts pointed out that the cold reception of e-commerce promotions may become the norm in the future. First, consumers' overall desire to consume has declined. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics recently, the consumer price index fell by 0.5% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month in November 2023. On the other hand, consumers generally said that they "don't know what to buy" and that they don't need to stock up on daily necessities.

Unlike the Black Friday promotion that originated offline in the United States, the concept of big promotion in China came from an attempt by e-commerce platforms. On November 11, 2009, Taobao held its first big promotion under the name of "Singles' Day". Although the overall sales amount was not shocking, the effect of nationwide interaction it triggered was extremely amazing. In the following ten years, this event received a positive response from almost all domestic e-commerce platforms, and other consumer festivals were extended from it, such as 618 and Double 12.

After more than a decade of booming e-commerce promotions, not only are merchants beginning to feel a little tired of today's promotions, but consumers are also saying that they are a little reluctant to spend. Even in Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room, which is known for the "lowest prices on the entire network", on the first day of Double 11 this year, his GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) was less than half of that of the same period last year.

Commentators believe that the e-commerce promotion wave that has been surging for more than a decade is beginning to ebb, which may not be a bad thing. Consumers need to accumulate consumption desire again, and merchants also need to conserve their energy. After all, starting from April every year, China's e-commerce industry has various promotional activities with different themes. Coupled with the live broadcast e-commerce that is promoting sales every day, there is really not much room for consumers to rise.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.