e-commerce

Has the ‘Double Eleven’ Shopping Festival Lost its Luster?

Translations, cross-publications, and collaborative projects from Sixth Tone’s external partners. 

SIXTH TONE ×

The annual online shopping festival has continued to falter as an overabundance of sales seasons and opaque pricing strategies cause fatigue among consumers.

Shanghai Observer

E-Commerce Giants Target a New Singles’ Day Market: China’s Elderly

Timely reports on issues and events from across China. Drawing on a vast range of sources, these succinct articles provide insights into the significance of each issue in a wider context.

NEWS

Amid China’s biggest shopping festival, data shows a surge in senior consumption across online platforms, particularly of products like electric wheelchairs and hearing aids.

He Qitong

To Grow Wealth, China’s Gen Z is Buying Gold — One Bean at a Time

Buying gold was largely associated with older generations in China, but data now indicates that over half of gold consumers belong to the post-’90s age group. For many, it’s the most viable long-term investment.

Zhu Junxi

China’s TikTok Bans Rapid Livestream Selling 

In stark contrast to the typically long-winded product explanations on China’s e-commerce livestreams, the “rapid introductions” of products with little explanation has been a surprise hit among consumers.

Chinese State Media Slams ‘Hot Kids Style’ in Children’s Fashion

The trend, which promotes microskirts, backless shirts, and crop tops among young children, has sparked concerns about the sexualization of minors.

Yang Caini

On Douyin, Chinese Companies Sell Coal at Rock-Bottom Prices

With coal prices hitting their lowest in over two years, coal companies are turning to livestreaming platforms to find new customers.

China’s Small-Time Influencers Search for a Hit

Contributions from individuals with unique perspectives to share. Hear from everyone, from experts and commentators to those whose voices are often marginalized.

VOICES & OPINION

They might just have a few hundred followers, but these “nano-influencers” still believe they can strike it rich.

Zheng Yingqin

Int’l Luxury Brands Embrace E-Commerce to Attract Chinese Buyers

Sales of high-end products online have dramatically increased compared to offline shopping.

Sixth Tone

Alibaba Built Its Success on Small Vendors. Now, It Fears Losing Them.

Articles that cut to the core of contemporary China. In-depth, informed, and carefully crafted, every piece is carried by the voices of the story’s participants.

FEATURES

Ahead of the all-important Singles’ Day shopping festival, the Chinese e-commerce giant is struggling to cling on to the core of its business: the small merchants that populate its flagship Taobao platform.

Wu Peiyue

Zhang Liting

Shifting Fortunes in a ‘Taobao Village’

What happens when a model e-commerce village kills the goose that lays the golden eggs?

Qian Linliang

Once a Lifeline, Group-Buying in China Gasps for Survival

What’s next for group coordinators, suppliers, and grid warehouses?

Kaiboluo Caijing

Taobao Bans ‘Lie Flat’ Cat Cartoon

A Shanghai cat shelter raised money with slacker-themed T-shirts. China’s biggest e-commerce platform says they threatened “public order and morality.”

Luo Meihan

Regulations Cut Jobs for China’s Tutors. Will TikTok Save Them?

Those who can, teach. Those who can’t go on TikTok.

How the Kindle Lost China

The popular e-reader seemed poised to dominate the Chinese market, but mounting competition and a decade of questionable business decisions ultimately spelled its doom.

Wang Hanyang

‘Quiet Like Never Before’: China’s 618 Shopping Festival is a Dud

In the wake of months-long lockdowns, China’s consumers are skipping out on the sales season.

Ye Zhanhang

Chinese Online Vendors Help Users Hide Their IP Address Location

Major social platforms have started displaying user locations in a bid to combat disinformation.

Missing 700-Year Old Dragon Ornament Found in Online Sale

If you’re trying to fence a stolen artifact, maybe don’t list it on eBay (or in this case, the eBay-like Xianyu)?

Fan Yiying

‘Group-Buying’ Becomes a Lifeline for Hungry Shanghai Residents

Communities are banding together to place bulk orders directly with food companies, as e-commerce services in the city remain totally overwhelmed.

The Shake-Out of China’s Community Group-Buying Market

“Old-timers” falter as newcomers and tech giants rush in, but regulatory scrutiny and buckets of red ink have cooled a once-booming e-commerce sector.

Caixin Global

As Amazon Changes Course, China’s Sellers Shop for Options

Amazon is still prime. But amid rising demand and new markets, Chinese cross-border sellers are pivoting away from the U.S. giant.