China e-commerce platforms test AI shopping tools during Singles Day

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China e-commerce tests AI tools

Highlights

JD.com's AI shopping assistant Dongdong attracts nearly 80 million users for Singles Day, over three times last year's total.
Sales for Singles Day rise 2.4% between October 7 and October 31, outpacing China's 1.1% retail sales increase for the year through September.
Alibaba reports AI toys surpass 100 million yuan in annual sales and AI companion robot sales rise nearly fivefold year on year in late October.

AI shopping features gain scale

As reported by Reuters, Chinese e-commerce platforms are expanding AI-led shopping tools during this year's Singles Day event, with Alibaba, JD.com and PDD Holdings using the technology to improve discovery and conversion. Alibaba's Tmall and Taobao offer AI-driven research, virtual clothing try-ons and discount-finding tools, while shoppers are increasingly using chatbots that can recommend products, complete purchases and arrange delivery within the same app.

On Douyin, AI drives roughly 5% of purchases through chatbot links in October, according to data from WPIC Marketing + Technologies. For considered purchases such as supplements, that share exceeds 20%, and Jacob Cooke, chief executive of the research firm, says he expects AI to account for a growing share of direct purchases, comparable to livestreaming or social commerce.

JD.com says its AI shopping assistant, Dongdong, attracts nearly 80 million users seeking advice for this year's Singles Day festival, more than triple last year's total. Beijing-based technology analyst Liu Xingliang says AI also makes highly specific searches easier, such as finding a washing machine suited to a narrow balcony, quiet nighttime use and a defined budget.

Consumer spending and product demand in focus

Whether AI is lifting overall spending enough to materially boost the shopping festival remains unclear, even as adoption broadens. Ben Cavender, managing director at Shanghai-based China Market Research Group, says some brands benefit more depending on how platforms tune their systems or how products are priced, while others can lose visibility if shoppers let AI assistants handle product searches.

Sales for Singles Day climb 2.4% between October 7 and October 31, according to third-party data platform Syntun, which is due to provide an updated figure for the full event on Thursday. That compares with a 1.1% rise in China's retail sales for the year through the end of September.

AI-enabled products are also drawing stronger demand during the festival. Alibaba says AI toys surpass 100 million yuan in sales within one year of launching as a new category on its platforms, while sales of AI companion robots rise nearly fivefold year on year in the second half of October.

Tmall says sales of AI tokens, computing units bought to use AI models, rise more than 700% between October 15 and November 5 compared with the period from September 15 to October 5. Top livestreamer Austin Li also features AI products for the first time, selling 100,000 monthly subscriptions to Alibaba's QwenWork within 30 minutes.

We have also discussed the broader context around Ralph Lauren bonuses being tied to AI metrics as retailers push accountability for AI adoption.

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