Shopping gala focuses on quality growth, AI dividends

"The shopping festival empowered by AI not only offers consumers a smarter and more convenient shopping experience, but also creates immense growth opportunities for brands and merchants," he added.

Hong predicted that China's consumption market is poised for steady growth this year, with a significant rebound expected in durable goods, electronic devices and home appliances fueled by the consumer goods trade-in program and discounts provided by e-commerce platforms.

Rise of instant sales model

Jason Yu, general manager of CTR Market Research, said this year's promotional gala marks a significant milestone for AI's widespread application in the e-commerce industry, as online retailers have provided shoppers with tailor-made recommendations and guidance based on their preferences by leveraging AI tools.

Yu said the meteoric rise of instant retail will be a "new battlefield" for major internet and e-commerce companies, adding that the integration between online and offline shopping will be the future direction for the retail sector.

Instant retail refers to a model where shoppers place orders on online trading platforms, followed by retailers from brick-and-mortar stores executing door-to-door deliveries themselves or through third-party delivery platforms. An on-demand delivery order usually requires 30 to 60 minutes to be completed.

Hong said instant retail model will unlock tremendous growth potential, further blurring the boundaries between lifestyle services and online shopping, and driving the expansion of service-oriented consumption.

As Alibaba's significant investment in instant retail, Taobao Instant Commerce participated in the promotional event for the first time. A total of 37,000 brands and 400,000 offline stores have been connected to the company's instant retail business.

JD is also accelerating its expansion in the fast-developing instant retail sector. The company's local life business unit joined hands with more than 3 million merchants from catering and hospitality sectors to take part in the Singles Day shopping spree for the first time.

According to a report from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, the market scale of China's instant retail sector reached 650 billion yuan in 2023, up 28.89 percent year-on-year. The figure is expected to surpass 2 trillion yuan in 2030.

Hong said the instant retail is expected to evolve from a supplementary business into a core battleground for major e-commerce players, highlighting that the competition centered on "speed" and "experience" is not only transforming the e-commerce landscape, but also signifying the arrival of a new retail era marked by the in-depth integration of online and offline shopping.