Artificial intelligence took center stage during China's Singles Day shopping gala this year, as e-commerce giant JD.com reported sales of over 50 million AI-powered products while 2 trillion tokens for Alibaba's AI services were sold in just 30 minutes.
The figures pointed to a broader shift in the world's second-largest economy, in which AI-powered shopping assistants, intelligent devices and digital services are emerging as new sources of demand, reshaping how Chinese people shop and what they buy.
Centered on Nov 11, Singles Day, which is also known as "Double 11", is a major e-commerce promotion event. It has grown from a one-day sales blitz into a weekslong shopping season, with presales typically beginning in mid-October and concluding on Nov 11, which fell on Wednesday.
JD said on Thursday that it had sold more than 50 million AI products during the festival, with sales of AI-equipped computers, workstations, cameras and smart glasses more than doubling from a year earlier.
Sales of packages of AI tokens — units used to measure the text and other information processed by large language models — rose more than tenfold from the previous comparison period, while searches for the term "token" jumped more than thirteenfold, JD said.
On Nov 2, Li Jiaqi, one of China's best-known livestreamers, sold about 100,000 monthly subscriptions for Alibaba's QwenWork AI office service in just 30 minutes, equivalent to around 2 trillion tokens.
On Tmall, sales of AI tokens surged more than 700 percent between Oct 15 and Nov 5 compared with the period from Sept 15 to Oct 5, reflecting consumers' growing interest in paying for computing power and AI-powered productivity tools.
Large model developers, including Z.ai and MiniMax, have opened Tmall stores, allowing customers to buy discounted AI services and stock up on tokens.
Li Mingtao, chief e-commerce analyst at the China International Electronic Commerce Center, said, "The emergence of AI tokens on shopping platforms marks a significant step in bringing AI services from the business market to individual consumers."
Zhang Yi, CEO of market consultancy iiMedia Research, said: "Efforts to promote AI services during Singles Day helped raise awareness among consumers and cultivate AI usage habits. Its significance goes beyond generating substantial sales in the short term."
Beyond becoming something that consumers buy, AI is also transforming how they make purchasing decisions.
Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall have introduced AI-powered product searches, virtual clothing try-ons and tools that help shoppers compare prices and identify discounts. JD said that its AI shopping assistant Dongdong attracted nearly 80 million users seeking purchasing advice during this year's festival, more than triple the number recorded a year earlier.
Zhu Keli, founding president of the China Institute of New Economy and an expert on the intelligent economy, said: "China's consumer market is entering a phase characterized by improved quality and optimized consumption structures. Consumers are moving away from indiscriminate stockpiling and an excessive focus on low prices, and are placing greater emphasis on value for money, service quality and efficiency."
chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn
