Double 11, a carnival for shopaholics. Every year at this time, brands offer the lowest prices on e-commerce platforms, enticing millions of consumers to buy. Price is the biggest highlight of Double 11 and the most concerned topic for consumers.
-01- Brands Undercutting Prices On Tmall, Lay's Unlimited Potato Chips (104g x 3 cans) originally priced at 19.9 yuan, with a coupon of 25 yuan off for orders over 199 yuan and a Tmall Supermarket coupon of 5 yuan off for orders over 149 yuan, you can enjoy the lowest price by purchasing 10 orders. Each order costs only 15.9 yuan. Red Bull Angeji (original price 169 yuan per case) is discounted to 129.9 yuan, and buying 2 cases brings the price down to 119 yuan per case. Buying 2 cases offers the best discount, with each can costing only 4.9 yuan. Budweiser Classic (500ml x 15 cans) is 99 yuan, with buy 2 get 1 case of Budweiser 255ml x 24 cans; buy 3 get 2 cases; buy 4 get 2 cases plus a sports cup. On Tmall, Budweiser 255ml x 24 cans is priced at 89 yuan per case. Xiaolongkan Spicy Beef Self-Heating Hotpot is 32.2 yuan on Double 11, with a free gift of 10 mini sausages for buying 2. Master Kong instant noodles (whole case) originally 60 yuan, promotional price 44.9 yuan. Uni-President Old Tan Sauerkraut Beef Noodles (whole case) originally 72 yuan, after Double 11 discount 46.9 yuan. On Double 11, the first 300 customers to buy Zhong Xue Gao will receive a 250ml bottle of Luzhou Laojiao. Nongfu Spring drinking water (550ml x 12 bottles) is 14.4 yuan. On JD.com, Lamian Noodles Japanese Vegetarian Four-Flavor Combo originally 139.9 yuan, now 89.9 yuan, and from 22:00 on Nov 9 to 22:00 on Nov 10, the second item is only 9.9 yuan, making each pack 49.9 yuan. Yili Classic Organic Pure Milk (250ml x 16 boxes) originally 79.9 yuan, JD flash sale 59.9 yuan. Three Squirrels Seaweed Crispy (36g/bag) originally 45 yuan, now 25.9 yuan, with a 210 yuan discount for orders over 300 yuan, the final price is 7.8 yuan per bag. In addition to incredibly low prices, brands also offer store coupons: 5 yuan off for orders over 88, 25 yuan off for orders over 199, 30 yuan off for orders over 259, and 50 yuan off for orders over 400. Moreover, some brands have buy-one-get-one-free promotions. On Tmall, JD, and other e-commerce platforms, there are many FMCG products with low prices, showing the brutal price cuts this Double 11. Many brand products are priced below their usual selling price, including first-tier brands. It's clear that besides competition among platforms, brands are also engaging in price wars. Brands that are usually price-sensitive have no "bottom line" during Double 11, all playing the low-price card. Platforms focus on traffic, brands on sales, and consumers on prices. Every Double 11 is not only a traffic battle for e-commerce platforms but also a sales competition for brands, with consumers being the biggest beneficiaries.
-02- The Secrets Behind Double 11 Price Cuts 2019 marks the 11th Double 11. From a few hundred brands initially to tens of thousands now, Double 11 has become the world's largest online shopping festival, with a massive traffic pool. Today's Double 11 "gameplay" is more complex, and brand promotions are more "brutal." So what are the secrets behind the price cuts?
1. FMCG Market Enters Stock Era, Intense Brand Competition Currently, China's FMCG market has entered a stock era, with fierce competition in traditional offline channels, rising costs in new retail channels, and intense brand competition. Downward market expansion requires brands to invest higher costs to maintain channels; diverse consumer demands make brands realize that a single product can no longer satisfy the new generation; growing distributors no longer favor first-tier brands but seek profitable ones, and continuously learning distributors have more professional product selection capabilities. In the Double 11 battlefield, price is the only "weapon" for brand competition—whoever has the lowest price attracts traffic, whoever has the strongest promotions stimulates orders, and whoever has the richest gifts triggers word-of-mouth. It can be said that the intensity of the Double 11 price war is a true reflection of today's fierce FMCG competition.
2. Using Low Prices to Grab Online Traffic Online, the traffic dividend is over. With the rise of new platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, live streaming, and social e-commerce, they are all dividing e-commerce platform traffic. For brands, only low prices can attract more traffic, and Double 11 is a festival where brands tacitly agree to engage in low-price promotions. Because Double 11 has the most traffic of the year, brands use attractive prices to pull consumers into their stores and use rich promotions to stimulate orders. The traffic war triggers a price war; to defend the brand, profits are sacrificed.
3. Strong Promotions Reflect Brand Strength We can see that during Double 11, big brands often have very attractive promotions, not only low prices but also rich buy-one-get-one-free activities. Lower prices and richer promotions attract more consumers. Double 11 is a showcase of brand strength. With sufficient material and financial resources, brands engage in this grand event, using low prices, coupons, and gifts to continuously stimulate consumers, making shopaholics helpless against such tempting offers.
4. The Best Window for Brand Promotion Global attention, eagerly awaited. Double 11 has become the best window for brand promotion. Unlike usual diverse marketing activities, price is the best word-of-mouth method during Double 11. Regardless of brand size, attractive prices will definitely trigger spontaneous consumer sharing, which is especially effective for first- and second-tier brands that rarely run promotions or have small discounts. Using low prices to attract consumer attention and generate word-of-mouth is undoubtedly a low-cost brand promotion. For both consumers and brands, this is a win-win marketing activity.
5. Driving Offline Traffic Using low prices to attract consumers to order, as long as the product quality is good and meets consumer needs, some consumers will choose to repurchase offline after Double 11. For brands with omnichannel sales, if your products cover most offline channels, you can attract consumers to repurchase offline.
6. The Perfect Time for Brands to Clear Inventory Every Double 11, near the end of the year, is an excellent opportunity for brands to clear inventory. Through low prices and buy-one-get-one-free activities, brands and distributors can process inventory and recover funds.
7. Niche Products Can Cultivate Consumers For niche products, Double 11 is the best time to cultivate consumers. With a huge influx of traffic in a short period, low prices attract purchases, and promotions like buy one get one free or buy two get two free trigger hoarding impulses. The accumulation of quantity leads to qualitative changes, subtly creating consumer dependence on the product. They discover that this product is delicious or this drink is tasty. Faced with low-price temptations, consumers are more willing to try niche products.
8. Testing New Products During Double 11, the consumer base is broader, including young, middle-aged, and even some elderly people, covering a wide range of consumption levels. Whether in first- or second-tier cities or third- and fourth-tier cities, as long as logistics can reach, consumers will participate. For brands, Double 11 is a testing ground for new products. Through low-price strategies, they can attract more consumers to order, covering a wider consumer group, making it the best market research activity for new products.
9. The Year-End Exam for Brand E-commerce Teams For brands, beyond products, Double 11 is more importantly a major test for their e-commerce teams and supply chains. The high-density transaction volume in a short time tests not only the execution of the brand's e-commerce team but also the brand's supply chain capabilities. Through personalized stores and copy that hits consumer pain points, brands capture attention and drive orders in a short time. Behind the high sales volume, the supply chain system, including logistics and after-sales, is also tested. Double 11 is the perfect time to assess these capabilities. Double 11 is an annual promotional feast for consumers, but for brands, low prices bring more than just sales.
Dear readers, what do you think Double 11 means for brands? Feel free to share your views in the comments section.
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