The phenomenon of Black Friday, a shopping extravaganza that originated in the United States, has transcended its geographical limits and sparked a shopping frenzy in China as well. This year, the enthusiasm is amplified by the participation of nearly 20,000 overseas brands and millions of imported goods making their debut on Tmall Global. The event promises significant discounts, with popular products available at prices slashed up to 80% off. From November 28 at 8 PM to November 29 at midnight, Tmall Global is bringing Black Friday to the consumers in real-time through live streaming, allowing them the unique opportunity to shop 'round the clock without the hassle of time zone differences.
During this shopping phenomenon, Chinese consumers can embark on a virtual shopping journey across nine countries and four continents, guided by Tmall Global’s overseas purchasing agents. This virtual expedition includes stops at hot spots like the Arc'teryx flagship store in Toronto, the Paris outlet village, the Shilla Duty-Free in Seoul, and the bustling Tanukikoji shopping street in Hokkaido. All of this is made possible within just one day.
Import consumption data reflects a robust demand during this year’s Black Friday. Categories such as digital cameras, gaming peripherals, and outdoor gear have seen meteoric sales growth—some exceeding 100% compared to the previous year. As the leading platform for cross-border e-commerce, Tmall Global has continued to ramp up its investments in Black Friday activities, solidifying its prominence in the import consumption landscape.
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As explained by Liu Liu, the marketing head for Tmall Global's Black Friday activities, "Black Friday can be viewed as the equivalent of Double Eleven (November 11), but for overseas brands." Liu further elaborated that this year, Tmall Global has adopted an upgraded strategy for the event, providing immense traffic support along with richer benefits and resources for consumers.
For years, cross-border e-commerce has grappled with significant challenges such as unfamiliarity with products, slow logistics, and high prices. Nonetheless, over the past decade, Tmall Global has systematically dismantled these barriers to the point where Black Friday has emerged as a recognized shopping event for Chinese consumers. Shoppers this year can relish in the remarkable changes, including a wider array of famous brands and unique new products, lightning-fast logistics that can deliver items within as little as five days, and a dual guarantee of authenticity assured by both the platform and merchants. “Cross-border shopping” has become significantly more straightforward on Tmall Global.
The diversity and novelty of products offered during Black Friday and the subsequent Double Eleven less than six weeks apart attract a massive influx of consumers seeking differentiated overseas items. The characteristics of Tmall Global’s best-selling Black Friday goods include a higher percentage of personalized products, high quality items from international and luxury brands, and a diverse range of categories reflecting consumers' refined tastes in cross-border shopping.
According to Liu, Tmall Global emphasizes stocking products based on geographical nuances, curating regionally distinctive supply systems by aligning country-specific product categories. For instance, sports and outdoor goods from North America, electronics from Japan, beauty products from Korea, and baby formula from Australia. This consumer-driven inventory logic has emerged through Tmall Global’s deepening footprint in the cross-border import sector, bolstered by robust consumption data across the Taobao ecosystem that captures consumer preferences for overseas products.
Import businesses recognize the paramount importance of Black Friday; it holds the same weight as the Double Eleven festival concerning product preparation and sales strategy. A case in point is the South Korean fashion brand STAND OIL, which has gained immense popularity among local celebrities. This retailer entered the Chinese market this year, engaging in Tmall Global’s Black Friday for the first time. Nico, the brand’s China representative, revealed that STAND OIL's strategy focuses on promoting unique new items at favorable prices.
STAND OIL has capitalized on seasonal color trends appropriate for autumn and winter, introducing wine-red bags that resonate with the festive season of Christmas and the New Year. In October, STAND OIL leveraged livestreaming with influencer Li Jiaqi to promote its products, enhancing visibility through celebrity endorsements and officially launched during Black Friday, resulting in explosive sales.
Moreover, veterans in the Black Friday game continue to devise fresh narratives. Elta MD, a professional skincare brand known for its cleansing products, has been a stalwart on Tmall Global since 2018. This year, the brand introduced its exclusive UV Clear sunscreen SPF 46 during Black Friday to align with consumer demand for specialized skincare protection. Similarly, American fashion retailer Revolve, which aggregates over 1,000 global brands, has broadened its product offerings in response to domestic market needs, introducing hundreds of new autumn and winter styles including puffer jackets and knitwear.
For these overseas brands, Black Friday embodies a vast untapped customer base and immense potential for market penetration. Bryan, the Chinese market operations manager at Revolve, underscores that the brand intends to reach beyond its core demographic of avid fans of cross-border shopping, leveraging Tmall Global’s extensive user base to attract new customer segments.
The evolution of consumer habits is evident in how shoppers engage with Black Friday. Once reliant on traveling overseas or turning to purchasing agents, consumers can now browse and shop globally from the comfort of their own homes—thanks largely to the innovative 28-hour global live streaming event orchestrated by Tmall Global. This initiative seamlessly connects Chinese consumers with international trends and products, bridging the gap between global retailers and local consumer desires.
From November 28 to 29, Tmall Global showcased a collaborative live shopping event featuring overseas buyers in countries including the United States, France, the UK, Canada, Italy, Australia, Japan, and Korea. This spectacular global tour enabled consumers to experience a plethora of Black Friday products—all from their screens, from selecting deluxe wines in France to perusing luxury goods at Bangkok’s Central World or visiting Arc'teryx stores in North America.
Adding excitement to the Black Friday shopping experience, Tmall Global featured daily flash sales on popular items, with products discounted as much as 80%. Highlights included the Nintendo Switch, originally priced at 1779 yuan, available for an unbelievable 999 yuan during the live broadcast, along with other enticing deals from high-end brands.
In addition to Tmall Global’s innovative streaming experiences, numerous overseas brands participated actively by hosting their own live broadcasts. Notable names such as La Roche-Posay, EviDenS de Beauté, RAZER, AXXZIA, Mistine, and noromega offered incentives like millions of red packet giveaways and surprise free offers throughout the 28-hour segment.
Beyond the excitement of shopping, the success of Tmall Global’s Black Friday can be attributed to consumer trust stemming from enhanced authenticity guarantees and expedited shipping. The early adopters of cross-border shopping experienced numerous hurdles, ranging from inflated prices from purchasing agents to counterfeit goods or lengthy shipping times. However, today's logistics solutions have greatly improved.
This year, Tmall Global is determined to uphold product authenticity while ensuring the quickest delivery times possible, with plans to further streamline the shopping experience. STAND OIL maintains consistency across countries, offering direct shipping from South Korea. Additionally, each product comes with a “genuine card” that allows consumers to verify authenticity via the HiddenTag app. Meanwhile, Revolve meticulously details product specifications to clarify differences between versions and trace product flow to fortify consumer trust.
With Tmall Global embracing several new quality assurance measures, they aim to enhance product reliability through collaboration with over 20 third-party quality inspection agencies, ensuring that imported goods meet stringent standards and maintaining clear transparency throughout the procurement process.
Logistics service has also significantly evolved, with Tmall Global’s overseas delivery service now able to promise shipments arriving in as little as five business days from regions including Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. Revolve has also noted impactful improvements, reducing shipping durations from over two weeks down to just over a week due to Tmall Global's sophisticated cross-border logistics infrastructure.
Elta MD appreciates Tmall Global’s comprehensive logistics solutions that ensure efficient processing from arrival in mainland China through to warehouse storage, subsequently improving operational efficacy for brands as well.
As an annual shopping event, Tmall Global’s Black Friday presents a meticulous assembly of supply structure, innovative content, enhanced logistics, and reliability—all leading to evolved consumer experiences. This ongoing phenomenon not only democratizes access to global trends for millions of consumers, but also lowers the barriers for brands, inviting them to carve out new avenues for growth in the Chinese market.
Over the past year alone, approximately 7,000 new international brands have joined Tmall Global, creating a thriving business landscape enriched by over 40,000 overseas brands. With the steadily increasing domestic demand for imported goods, combined with Tmall Global’s escalating investments, this number promises continued growth.
The explosive success of this year’s Black Friday signifies Tmall Global's leadership position in the import consumption sphere and reveals a robust appetite among Chinese consumers for high-quality, distinctive international products. More importantly, this vibrant interplay among Tmall Global, its overseas partners, and discerning Chinese consumers crafts a more collaborative, innovative ecosystem—ultimately transforming the complexities of cross-border shopping into a more streamlined and fruitful experience.