---
title: "The End of a Decade of E-commerce Pre-sales: Will Consumers Buy It?"
description: "On May 20, Tmall's 618 shopping festival went on sale with immediate delivery, potentially marking the end of e-commerce 'pre-sales.' This mechanism, initiated by Alibaba in 2012, has been imitated by major e-commerce platforms. Over 12 years, pre-sales have generated significant sales for platforms and merchants, and the model of paying a deposit first and then the balance has also benefited consumers. However, as pre-sale rules have become increasingly complex, consumers have grown weary of the 'math problem' shopping experience, and the long waiting periods have turned annual promotions into a test of patience."
author: "高宇哲"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2024-05-27"
language: "en"
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# The End of a Decade of E-commerce Pre-sales: Will Consumers Buy It?

> On May 20, Tmall's 618 shopping festival went on sale with immediate delivery, potentially marking the end of e-commerce 'pre-sales.' This mechanism, initiated by Alibaba in 2012, has been imitated by major e-commerce platforms. Over 12 years, pre-sales have generated significant sales for platforms and merchants, and the model of paying a deposit first and then the balance has also benefited consumers. However, as pre-sale rules have become increasingly complex, consumers have grown weary of the 'math problem' shopping experience, and the long waiting periods have turned annual promotions into a test of patience.

On May 20, Tmall's 618 went on sale with immediate delivery, and e-commerce 'pre-sales' may become history.
This promotion mechanism, initiated by Alibaba in 2012, has been imitated by major e-commerce platforms since its introduction. Over 12 years, the pre-sale system has generated considerable sales for platforms and merchants, and the model of paying a deposit in advance and then the balance has also made consumers feel they benefit.
However, as e-commerce platforms' pre-sale rules have become increasingly complex, consumers have gradually grown tired of the 'math problem' shopping experience, and the long pre-sale waiting period has turned annual promotions into a consumption process that tests patience.
More importantly, e-commerce platforms have recognized the importance of returning to users. Taking Alibaba as an example, in May 2023, Jack Ma announced at a small internal meeting to 'return to Taobao, return to users, and return to the internet.' Over the past year, Taobao has launched a series of measures around 'users' to optimize consumer rights and experience, and the cancellation of pre-sales is a major step in the direction of 'returning to users.'
Alibaba is not the only one changing; last year's Double 11 saw JD.com take the lead in canceling pre-sales, and this year, following Alibaba, Douyin and Kuaishou also announced the cancellation of pre-sales. Has the era of putting users at the center arrived?
**Pre-sales fail**
In the summer of 2009, Zhang Yong, then general manager of Taobao Mall, decided to try out 'Double 11' to 'push up transaction volume.' In 2012, Double 11 was officially registered as 'Global Shopping Carnival,' Taobao Mall was renamed Tmall, and a 27-day pre-sale period was added.
In the first few years of Double 11, it was not an exaggeration to call it an 'annual' carnival shopping festival. Consumers placed orders on time and competed in hand speed, merchants prepared in advance for the promotion and stocked up to ensure they could handle large orders; the logistics side had to plan delivery cycles in advance to cope with short-term explosive orders, and some courier companies quietly 'accelerated.'
All parties were under pressure, bringing incredible transaction growth to Taobao. In 2012, Taobao and Tmall's transaction volume went from 52 million in three years to 19.1 billion.
**The growing scale also brought challenges to merchants, logistics, and platforms, and many small and medium-sized merchants did not have enough time to calculate inventory and prepare supply.**
**The emergence of the pre-sale system lengthened the entire promotion cycle.** The model of paying a deposit in advance and paying the balance a week later allowed sellers to lock in orders, produce according to quantity, avoid inventory buildup, and also reduced the pressure on the platform system to process large numbers of transactions and logistics. This mechanism, originally intended for mutual benefit, brought Taobao increasing transaction volume year after year with promotions like 618 and Double 11.
In 2012, Zhang Yong, then president of Tmall, said he hoped the pre-sale model would 'significantly reduce production and supply chain costs, help consumers save money, and benefit merchants.'
However, over time, this mechanism, once proven successful, began to 'fail.'
In pursuit of impressive data, larger platforms enthusiastically 'created festivals,' with Alibaba's Double 11, JD.com's 618, Douyin's 818, and other small promotions interspersed throughout the year. These promotions in the name of festivals made consumers gradually immune to 'consumption.'
**And the complex discount mechanisms, lengthy payment cycles, and delayed shipments of pre-sales also made consumers lose patience.**
The deteriorated pre-sale became a large-scale complaint scene for buyers. A user with 16 years of Taobao experience said that last year's Double 11, she bought two down jackets for her mother, and after arrival, she found the seller had changed the price, cheaper than the promotion price. Another user complained that some products that should have been shipped during the promotion were repeatedly delayed, with some sellers shipping only after 30 days. Black Cat Complaint shows nearly 90,000 complaints related to 'pre-sales,' with many entries about non-shipment, higher prices than normal, and false advertising.
In fact, users have long suffered from the pre-sale mechanism. **Over more than a decade of development, this promotion mechanism, which was meant to benefit platforms, merchants, and consumers, has become a 'burden' for users.**
At the same time, with the rise of Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou, and other platforms, the relationship among merchants, platforms, and sellers is changing. In the stock market, buyers have begun to have more say, and whichever platform can increase user stickiness has the opportunity to win growth.
Under this trend, in May this year, Taobao and Tmall announced the cancellation of 618 pre-sales; JD.com, Kuaishou, and Douyin followed suit, canceling the pre-sale system. This also means that the pre-sale mechanism may become a microcosm of the past e-commerce era, gradually exiting the historical stage, and future e-commerce will prioritize buyers.
**Small and medium-sized merchants 'temporarily say goodbye' to 618**
Major e-commerce platforms have unanimously canceled the pre-sale system, but they remain cautious. The cancellation of 618 'pre-sales' by Taotian Group currently only applies to Tmall, perhaps considering that merchants need time to adapt.
From feedback, **in the face of this year's Taobao 618 promotion rule changes, many small and medium-sized merchants directly chose to give up.**
A home furnishing seller who has participated in several promotions told the author that this year he did not sign up for 618. In the past, it was to give customers return benefits, but since last year, the platform has been competing on full reduction amounts, from 200-15 to 200-30, and now 300-50, 'really can't afford it.'
Another women's clothing shop owner from Guangdong on Taobao and Tmall also decided not to be a 'sucker.' She told the author that the promotion period lasts nearly a month, and she has to provide return shipping insurance throughout, 'I'd rather sell less than participate in the activity.'
**This year's Taobao 618 various discounts are indeed leaning toward consumers.**
Previously, due to the pre-sale mechanism, Taobao allowed merchants to pre-sell up to 30 days in advance, but this year it requires shipping within 48 to 72 hours, meaning all styles must be in stock. The cross-store full reduction has also increased to 300-50, with some sellers calculating 'equivalent to a 17% discount.' For merchants who do not want to participate in the full reduction, Taobao offers another option: a direct 15% reduction in store categories; in addition, merchants need to provide return shipping insurance throughout, and some categories also require 'buy now, pay later.'
These new rules have facilitated Taobao and Tmall's concessions to users, but these costs are mostly borne by merchants.
A Taobao store owner calculated: assuming a product priced at 9.9 yuan: product cost 4.8 yuan + shipping 2.5 yuan + packaging 0.1 yuan + credit card 'buy now, pay later' 1% + return shipping insurance 0.9 yuan/order = cost 8.4 yuan. If participating in the 300-50 cross-store activity, equivalent to 83% off, the final selling price is 8.2 yuan. If the product sells and the buyer keeps it, the merchant loses 0.2 yuan; if the buyer returns it, including shipping, return shipping insurance, and packaging, the merchant loses 3.5 yuan.
This store owner told the author that the higher the return rate, the higher the return shipping insurance, 'for a piece of women's clothing, the return shipping insurance is nearly 4 yuan, and if the same order includes several pieces, the insurance stacks.' **For small and medium-sized stores with low profits, previous promotions, even if not very profitable, could increase traffic and exposure; but the adjusted new rules have significantly increased risks for merchants with limited strength.**
Canceling pre-sales means that in the game among platforms, merchants, and users, users have the upper hand, while merchants and platforms face new challenges.
According to 'LatePost,' Taotian's transaction volume during last year's 618 pre-sale period accounted for about 5%-10% of the entire promotion. Pre-sales also allowed orders to grow significantly in the short term. Now, Alibaba has 'cut off' the pre-sale system that once entered the historical stage, showing its determination to sacrifice short-term gains for long-term growth.
However, judging from this year's Taobao 618 response, on the first day of the promotion, people seemed more focused on '520,' and there was no sight of consumers waiting to grab orders. Perhaps '618,' drowned in various shopping festivals, is becoming more ordinary.
**Moving closer to users**
For Taotian internally, canceling the 12-year pre-sale mechanism was not an easy decision. According to 'LatePost,' in April this year, Taotian internally discussed whether to 'cancel pre-sales,' and amid multi-party interest games, most employees chose to support it, and ultimately the decision was made by Joe Tsai.
As a leader in China's e-commerce field, Taobao's mission from its inception was 'to make it easy to do business anywhere.' Since its establishment, Taobao first invited merchants to join, helping them get more orders. In Alibaba's upgraded corporate values in 2019, the first was 'Customer first, employees second, shareholders third.'
From Alibaba's mission, to continue to grow, 'customer' in the past referred to 'merchants.' Until December 2021, Alibaba implemented 'diversified governance,' appointing Trudy Dai as CEO of Taobao and Tmall Group, **and to address weak user growth, Alibaba began a series of user-centric changes.**
Jack Ma repeatedly emphasized 'returning to users' in 2023, and in April this year, current Alibaba board chairman Joe Tsai said in an interview: 'When we look inward and reflect on the past few years, we find that we have fallen behind because we forgot who our real customers are.'
To improve user experience, at the end of 2023, Taobao implemented new dispute resolution rules, one of which is that if a seller delays shipment or forces shipment without buyer permission, the system will support the buyer's 'refund only.' On April 22 this year, for the platform's most important member group, Taobao 88VIP member benefits were upgraded from 6 five-yuan return coupons to 'unlimited return shipping coverage,' with a maximum return subsidy of 25 yuan per order.
**The Taobao web version also underwent its biggest overhaul in seven years, comprehensively optimizing user experience and product supply, and relaunched the early Taobao forum 'Taobao Jianghu.'** 'LatePost' reported that over the past year, tens of millions of users used the Taobao web version daily, indicating that Taobao, which once diverted users to the mobile app, is rebuilding the experience for web users.
Alibaba is changing course, with 'buyers' becoming the 'first customer' at this stage.
Mobilizing all resources to win consumers is not Alibaba's choice alone. **Starting with this year's 618, platforms have taken the same path: simplicity, low prices, and service.**
Earlier, Pinduoduo had already felt the change in consumption trends, establishing the sole goal of pursuing extreme low prices, and during the Double 11 promotions in 2021 and 2022, it promoted the slogan 'no deposit, no pre-sale.'
This also makes Taobao's 'refund only' and JD.com's 'low price' seem more like responses to Pinduoduo. When Taobao's homepage shows multiple low-price entrances, with explosive products at ultra-low prices, billion-dollar subsidies, and daily payment from one yuan taking higher priority, platforms are working together to shorten intermediate links and make 'low price' and 'good products' key competitive tools.
In the current era where consumers seek value for money, e-commerce platforms are all jumping into the low-price war, and Alibaba's transformation is just beginning.
**Recommended reading**


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