China’s “Double 11” shopping festival has entered its 17th year. After years of rapid growth in traffic and sales, this nationwide shopping event has evolved beyond a simple promotional campaign, serving as an important lens to observe the resilience of Chinese consumption, shifts in industrial structure and technological innovation.
The era of e-commerce driven by scale growth has come to an end, both platforms and merchants must seek new pathways. The battleground has shifted from traditional distance retail to proximity retail, with instant delivery becoming the critical battlefield of 2025. Alibaba, Meituan and JD.com are investing heavily in a “deliver anything in 30 minutes” model, reshaping the relationship among people, goods and retail scenarios. Retail is no longer about long-distance, goods-entered distribution, but about human-centric, scenario-driven instant gratification.
A deeper shift is occurring at the level of consumption structure itself. The rise of the emotion-driven economy and the increasing share of services in consumption indicate that society is transitioning from a “goods-based” economy to a “service-based” one.
