Double Eleven 2025: The Sale That Never Ends
Once upon a time, Double Eleven was the world’s biggest shopping day… a 24-hour adrenaline rush of flash deals, sold-out carts, and midnight checkout frenzies.
Now? It’s starting to feel like a shopping season that never ends.
This year, JD.com kicked off its Double Eleven campaign on October 9, stretching the sales marathon all the way to November 14, the earliest and longest event in its 17-year history.
Even before that, DJI jumped the gun with price cuts of ¥100–¥1,000, making “DJI Price Cuts Exceed ¥1,000” a top-trending Weibo topic. Domestic smartphone brands weren’t far behind, slashing up to ¥1,100 off premium models before the official start date.
It’s as if the National Day holiday and Double Eleven have fused into one mega sales festival. And everyone’s asking the same thing:
Why does Double Eleven keep starting earlier?
And more importantly, are the deals still worth the hype?
From One Day to a 3-Month Marathon
What used to be a single shopping day has quietly transformed into a three-month project.
Brands now begin prepping in August or September, with peak activity running well past November. Each platform wants to lock in shoppers and their wallets before anyone else can.
It’s not just Alibaba’s Taobao anymore. Today, the roster includes JD.com, Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, and even Bilibili, all competing for attention.
Back in 2009, Double Eleven was a novelty. By 2011, sales hit ¥3.3 billion; in 2012, ¥19.1 billion. But the single-day model couldn’t keep up. Websites crashed, logistics failed, and payment systems buckled. Platforms responded by spreading the sales across weeks, turning the once-intense shopping day into a cross-month relay race.
The expansion worked for a while. But by 2021, Tmall’s GMV reached ¥540.3 billion, up only 8.5% year-over-year, down sharply from 26% growth the year before. Since 2022, Tmall has stopped disclosing total sales altogether.
The data says it all: the growth is flattening. The hype is fading.
The Decline of the “Festival” Feeling
Remember when Double Eleven felt like Black Friday meets the Olympics? That excitement is gone.
With live-streaming commerce taking over, every day is a mini shopping event. Discounts, limited drops, and influencer live sales now happen year-round.
Consumers, once thrilled by the chaos, have grown jaded. “If I miss it, I’ll just wait for 618,” has become the new mantra. Between the Mid-Year Sale, Chinese New Year promotions, and monthly live-stream deals, Double Eleven has lost its exclusivity.
The festival hasn’t disappeared… it’s just become background noise in a retail landscape that’s always “on sale.”
Simpler Rules, But Still Confusing
To their credit, platforms have tried to simplify promotions this year. The focus is now on instant discounts and straightforward price cuts, not endless coupon stacking.
But skepticism remains. Many shoppers have noticed that “discounted” items are barely cheaper than their usual price. Some even find the new structures more confusing than ever.
Example: one major platform introduced a three-phase payment model: deposit on October 9, balance on October 31, refund on November 10 if prices drop. While marketed as a convenience, it only adds uncertainty and decision fatigue.
Consumers are tired. What they want isn’t complexity. It’s clarity and trust.
What’s Next: Beyond the Price War
As the dust settles, the future of Double Eleven won’t be defined by who shouts “Lowest Price!” the loudest.
The next evolution will focus on:
Quality and service, not just discounts.
Transparency, so shoppers actually feel they’re saving.
Experience, where brands use storytelling and live content to build long-term loyalty, not one-day spikes.
Double Eleven doesn’t need to vanish. It just needs to mature. Because in 2025, real value is no longer about the cheapest cart. It’s about the smartest one.
