China’s Singles Day Shopping Festival Puts AI Selling Power to the Test
Chatbots are handling purchases, while AI toys topped 100 million yuan in sales and AI token sales jumped more than 700%, companies said.
- On November 11, 2026, Singles' Day 2026 showcased widespread artificial intelligence adoption, with platforms like Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com deploying AI to engage cautious consumers during fierce competition.
- Between October 7 and October 31, sales for the festival climbed 2.4% according to third-party data platform Syntun, outpacing the 1.1% rise in China's overall retail sales through end-September.
- Sales of AI companion robots rose nearly fivefold in the second half of October, while AI token sales on Alibaba's Tmall marketplace surged more than 700% between mid-October and early November.
- JD.com's AI shopping assistant Dongdong drew nearly 80 million users seeking advice for this year's festival, more than triple last year's users, as shoppers like 32-year-old Shanghai resident Sunny He utilize AI for high-value purchases.
- Jacob Cooke, chief executive of the research firm, noted this remains a "very new gateway and discovery channel," as analysts expect AI to drive a growing share of direct purchases comparable to livestreaming.
13 Articles
13 Articles
China's Singles Day shopping festival puts AI selling power to the test
BEIJING: If you are looking for evidence of how enthusiastically China is adopting AI, look no further than the country's premier month-long Singles Day shopping festival.Shopping via chatbots that recommend, direct and complete purchases is on the rise, AI-enabled devices such as toys and robots are being heavily promoted and consumers are snapping up bundles of AI tokens - units of computing that people buy to use AI models.For e-commerce firm…
China’s Singles Day shopping festival puts AI selling power to the test
By Sophie Yu and Casey Hall BEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) - If you are looking for evidence of how enthusiastically China is adopting AI, look no further than the country's premier month-long Singles Day shopping festival. Shopping via chatbots that recomm...
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For Sunny He, a 32-year-old Shanghai resident, this year’s Singles’ Day shopping season culminated in a single, high-value purchase: a 12,000-yuan (US$1,797) iPhone 18 Pro Max, sweetened by a 300-yuan voucher on Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall marketplace. “For me, Double 11 definitely isn’t as lively as before because I have less spare cash than in previous years,” He said. “Even so, I’ll take advantage of this chance for products that I couldn’t…
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