{"id":13433,"date":"2023-12-12T12:00:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=13433"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:04:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:04:18","slug":"what-is-the-future-of-chinas-online-shopping-festivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/what-is-the-future-of-chinas-online-shopping-festivals\/","title":{"rendered":"Why did Alibaba cancel its Double 12 shopping festival?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the face of changing consumption habits and declining sales from online shopping festivals, Alibaba has cancelled Double 12 for 2023. What does this mean for international consumer brands involved in e-commerce in China?<\/h1>\n

\"launchpad<\/a><\/p>\n

Since the explosion of e-commerce<\/a> in China over the past decade, a number of annual shopping festivals have come to dominate the e-commerce landscape, including 520 (20 May), 618 (\u2018Mid-Year Festival\u2019 on 18 June), and the most famous of all, Double 11 (aka Singles\u2019 Day).<\/p>\n

Double 12 (held on 12 December) was created by Alibaba as an extension of Double 11 (which it also debuted but has since expanded to other platforms), aiming to spread sales across the quieter months of the year before Lunar New Year<\/a> peak shopping season.<\/p>\n