Business · Companies · 2 hrs ago
China’s Double 11 shifts focus to services and AI offerings
China’s 2026 Double 11 shopping festival is highlighting services and AI products alongside traditional goods.
JD has showcased more than 100 in-house services, including home cleaning, appliance repair, car care and health services.
Tmall is offering subscriptions to several AI models and computers with models pre-installed, aimed at people and small teams who use AI.
Several platforms have also dropped rules that required shoppers to combine purchases to qualify for discounts.
The shift reflects growing demand for services: they made up 46.1% of household spending per person in 2025, while service retail sales grew faster than goods sales in the first half of this year.
Seven government departments will guide and regulate e-commerce platforms around major shopping periods as part of a plan to promote higher-quality online retail.
Chinese e-commerce platforms are emphasizing services and AI offerings during this year’s Double 11 shopping festival.
Platforms have simplified some shopping rules, including removing cross-store discounts and purchase-bundling mechanisms.
JD.com showcased more than 100 services, while AI model providers offered promotions and subscription products through Tmall.
The shift reflects efforts to compete on quality and convenience as well as price, amid growing demand for services.
- Who
- Chinese e-commerce platforms, including JD.com and Tmall, and AI model providers such as Zhipu, MiniMax and Qianwen.
- What
- Double 11 promotions are featuring expanded services and AI products alongside simplified shopping rules.
- When
- Activities began in mid-October 2026. JD.com held its Double 11 launch event on October 15.
- Where
- Online platforms including JD.com and Tmall; the JD.com launch event was held in Beijing.
- Why
- Platforms are seeking to improve service quality and shopping experience as competition moves beyond traffic and price wars.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A notice on a quality-focused e-commerce initiative was made public.
Multiple e-commerce platforms began activities related to the Double 11 shopping festival.
JD.com held its 2026 Double 11 launch event in Beijing and presented more than 100 services.
AI model providers on Tmall offered promotions, and users could buy subscriptions through its AI Token top-up center.
- JD.com services
- More than 100 services showcased
- JD.com workforce training
- More than 1 million blue-collar workers trained; another 1 million planned over three years
- Service consumption
- 13,602 yuan per person in 2025, or 46.1% of per-person consumption expenditure
- Service retail sales
- Up 5.3% year on year in the first half of 2026
- Quality e-commerce notice
- Published October 10, 2026 by seven government departments
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What people are saying
As of now, JD.com has trained more than one million blue-collar workers, and will train another million over the next three years.
Token's target users are not ordinary consumers, but individual users and small teams with clear AI needs.
The stage when e-commerce promotions could rely solely on traffic wars and price wars to win is gradually passing.