Doubts voiced

Zheng Zhuoran, an independent digital marketing expert, cast doubt on the sustainability of a healthy Nov 11"ecosystem" that Alibaba has long advocated. He said it is a "winner-takes-all game", with the vast majority of influencers or in-house livestreaming hosts being marginalized.

"To be endorsed by top-tier influencers, some companies are losing money just to get their brands publicized," he said. "At the same time, e-commerce platforms are increasingly wary of the burgeoning influence of these 'super individuals'."

Yu said emerging rivals such as short-video apps are concentrating their efforts on e-commerce backed by livestreaming.

"Traffic is destined to shift from traditional e-commerce platforms to other multimedia channels, such as short-video apps Douyin and Kuaishou, as well as WeChat's miniprograms," he said.

This year's festival was the first to be held since China officially ended the malpractice of forcing merchants to select only one e-commerce platform to launch products or offer discounts.

In theory, this gives more leeway for customers to surf platforms, compare prices and devise purchasing strategies.

The study by Bain & Co showed that more than half the consumers surveyed said they were planning to shop on three or more platforms during the festival this year.

Jonathan Cheng, a Bain partner who leads the China Retail practice, said: "If this insight suggests many shoppers view retailers as interchangeable on Double 11, it's because they do. For many consumers, Double 11 discounting hasn't fostered loyalty to a single platform. Spoiled for choice, they now prefer to shop around."

Still, some shoppers have decided to turn their backs on the fanfare surrounding the festival.

Samantha Huang, who works for a multinational corporation in Shanghai, said she has a sense of fatigue, if not aversion to, promotion work for the festival.

Late last month, she was hamstrung in her attempts to buy cat litter on Taobao by the vendor selling the product, who wanted as many transactions as possible during the festival promotional period to push up sales figures.

"They (vendors) are willing to wait (for postponed transactions), but my cat simply can't wait. I am so sick of the sophisticated ploys being used…I buy what I need, and I am not falling for marketing stunts," Huang said.

So, where do the merchants stand?

It appears to be business as usual. They promise a seamless online-to-offline experience, invite influencers to cherry pick and endorse products, reduce prices and offer generous samples.

However, the festival's success should not be taken for granted.

A marketing representative from an international cosmetics company, who declined to be named, said, "There are a growing number of routine channels out there that we need to attend to, from livestreaming sessions to duty-free networks on Hainan Island, for example, and China Duty Free Group Co."

Attractive prices are no longer the festival's main attraction. On the contrary, it has evolved into a resource intensive and energy consuming campaign that drags on for months, she added.

"We (her company) are not pulling out of the campaign outright, but we plan to reassess our strategy. People say that Nov 11 used to be just another date on the calendar until Alibaba reinvented it. Perhaps it's time for it to revert to what it used to be."