Weekly E-Commerce Roundup: Amazon Ads Officially Integrates with ChatGPT; Douyin Mall Kicks Off Recruitment for Mid-Autumn Festival Promotion

【Ebrun Original】Amazon Ads has officially integrated with ChatGPT; Douyin Mall has launched merchant recruitment for its Mid-Autumn Festival promotion; multiple regional authorities have launched inspections against snack brands including Zhao Yiming and Haoxianglai; Kweichow Moutai has raised prices for the sixth time this year.

Big Companies · Major Events

ByteDance

1. Douyin Mall Opens Recruitment for Mid-Autumn Festival Promotion, With Fully Platform-Funded Consumer Voucher Subsidies

Douyin Mall has recently kicked off merchant recruitment for its 2026 Mid-Autumn Reunion Season promotion, which will run from September 19 to 24. Merchants can choose to sign up for either of two discount mechanisms: a 15% across-the-board discount based on the price submitted by the merchant, or a direct price cut for individual items, with all discount costs borne by merchants. Products successfully enrolled in the promotional schemes will also be eligible for fully platform-funded consumer voucher subsidies. (For details, see Douyin Mall Opens Mid-Autumn Promotion Recruitment, Offers Fully Platform-Funded Consumer Vouchers)

In terms of traffic, the promotion will be driven by both livestreaming and short video content. Merchants and creators participating in campaigns such as Super Value Categories, Mega Store Discounts, and Super Value Creator Teams can unlock incentives including Xiaodian Suixintui ad credits and Qianchun ad spend rebate red envelopes once they hit incremental GMV targets. The platform is also launching a search ranking slot feature: products with high search demand will receive boosted search exposure, alongside a post-view search keyword cultivation plan, with related toolkits available for free.

On the merchandise side, the platform will prioritize categories closely associated with Mid-Autumn Festival consumer demand, including apparel, footwear and bags, fresh food, and alcoholic beverages, which will have access to platform subsidies, dedicated promotion zones and other resources. In-stock products enrolled in discount schemes will receive additional exclusive exposure, with tiered support across traffic, communications, subsidies, exposure and campaign atmosphere.

Merchants can also participate in marketing IP programs such as Super Brand Day and Mall New Arrivals, where ad placements will receive traffic boosts, and installment payments via Yuefu will be offered at preferential rates. For new merchants, the platform has lowered participation thresholds, offering zero-barrier onboarding and growth incentive packages to reduce entry costs.

2. Douyin Local Services Unveils LIFE Operating Methodology

Douyin Local Services has officially launched the LIFE methodology, a framework designed to systematize fragmented operational activities. The framework consists of five modules: L (Link) omni-channel connectivity, I (Influence) ecosystem influence, F (Fusion) integrated operation and advertising, E (Explosion) year-round explosive growth, as well as AI-powered omni-channel efficiency improvement that runs through the entire system. Officials compare the framework to a "snowball rolling model": L forms the base of the initial snowball, I provides the first push to set it in motion, F generates acceleration, E marks the critical leap to scale expansion, and AI makes every step of the process more efficient. (For details, see Douyin Local Services Launches LIFE Methodology: Can Merchants Escape Traffic Anxiety?)

The LIFE framework is not developed out of thin air. In 2025, Douyin Local Services recorded 59% year-over-year GMV growth, with the cumulative number of active small and medium merchant stores exceeding 9 million. The methodology has already been piloted and validated across sectors including hotel and travel, beauty services, and commercial complexes. In the hotel and travel sector, where a three-year GMV surge of 15 times has been recorded, the LIFE framework was applied to resolve common pain points including cutthroat price competition and poor traffic retention. In the beauty services sector, the number of merchants hitting 100 million yuan in annual revenue grew 195% year over year.

Alibaba

1. Taobao Unveils Farmer Harvest Festival Initiatives: To Cultivate 100 New Production Regions With Over 100 Million Yuan in Sales

At the Shanghai launch event of the 2026 Chinese Farmers' Harvest Festival Golden Autumn Consumption Season, Taobao and Tmall announced a set of measures to support agriculture and boost consumption, including AI-powered tools to improve farm operation efficiency, hundreds of millions in subsidies for the "Premium Production Region Plan", the "One Extra Item for Harvest" initiative to support agricultural product distribution to urban markets, with goals to build 100 new production regions each generating over 100 million yuan in sales, and 2,000 hit products each exceeding 1 million yuan in sales, to drive growth in sales of high-quality origin agricultural products.

2. Amap Street-Sweeping List Goes Fully AI-Powered, Launches 2026 Edition

Alibaba Group-owned Amap announced that its Street-Sweeping List, a curated ranking of local brick-and-mortar businesses, has been fully upgraded with AI technology, launching the new Amap Street-Sweeping List 2026 based on spatial intelligence.

Data shows that in the first year since its launch, Amap's Street-Sweeping List has served over 880 million users, with users navigating a total of 36.6 billion kilometers annually to listed businesses, driving a 424% year-over-year increase in orders for listed small local businesses, and earning a Guinness World Record for the most real in-person visits from users.

Building on that performance, the 2026 edition uses AI algorithms to weight scoring across different navigation-to-store behaviors, to more accurately reflect real user preferences and surface more high-quality, time-tested local businesses.

Tencent

1. WeChat Tests "Xiaowei AI Social" Feature

WeChat is reportedly testing a feature called "Xiaowei AI Social". Users' personal Xiaowei AI assistants can directly initiate conversations with their contacts' Xiaowei assistants: a user only needs to state a request to their own Xiaowei, which will then communicate with the contact's Xiaowei. After the contact confirms authorization, the two AI assistants will exchange information first before delivering results back to the users, prompting users for confirmation when their input is required.

Different from the "send WeChat message on behalf of user" function, this feature lets the two AI assistants hold preliminary conversations, with users only stepping in during authorization and decision-making stages. Testing shows that conversations via Xiaowei AI Social will not appear in personal chat windows, and are only conducted within the Xiaowei interface.

2. WeChat Pay Smart Glasses SDK Officially Launches

On September 8, according to updates from WeChat Open Class, WeChat Pay officially launched its smart glasses software development kit (SDK). WeChat Pay has packaged its scan-to-pay functionality into a standard SDK, open to eligible smart glasses manufacturers, allowing users to complete payments directly on compatible smart glasses. Rokid AI glasses are the first product to complete compatibility adaptation, per the announcement. (Source: IT Home)

Meituan

1. Meituan Waimai Rolls Out Store Map Feature for All Merchants

Meituan's food delivery platform has fully launched a feature that displays merchant location maps and store environment information upfront. In merchants' online storefront sections, customers can directly view a map of the merchant's location and in-store environment information, checking the store's address and interior/exterior appearance before deciding whether to place an order.

As of the end of August, over 2.7 million food delivery merchants have displayed their location maps and real-shot store environment photos, with more than 1.2 million merchants displaying continuous, one-take "walkthrough" videos of their stores.

2. Meituan Drone Delivery Network Expands in Shenzhen, Extends Service Radius to 5 Kilometers

Meituan has upgraded the single-route hub-and-spoke delivery points in Shenzhen to network nodes for the first time, integrating them into the Longhua district network that has been in operation for six months. The expansion has rapidly increased the Longhua network to 15 service points, extending the drone delivery radius for most merchants from 3 kilometers to 5 kilometers, a roughly 67% increase in service range.

This model of "upgrading existing points plus deploying new points" will also be rolled out for the Nanshan district network. Currently, 4 points in the Nanshan network are in operation, with plans to rapidly expand to nearly 30 points over the next two months.

3. Meituan Drone Low-Altitude Delivery Network Launches in Shanghai West Bund

Meituan's low-altitude drone delivery network at Shanghai West Bund has commenced operations, covering core areas including West Bund Dream Center, Model Speed Space, McDonald's Longteng Avenue restaurant, and Xuhui Riverside Public Open Space. Nearly 20 chain catering brands are already available for drone delivery, offering hundreds of products, with the platform expecting to offer products from over 40 brands by the end of the year. Meanwhile, Meituan and McDonald's launched China's first drone delivery route dedicated to a catering brand.

JD.com

1. JD.com Launches "Physical AI Acceleration Plan", To Procure 3 Million Robots, 1 Million Autonomous Vehicles and 100,000 Drones in Five Years

At the 2026 JD.com Global Technology Exploration Conference held September 9, the company announced the launch of its "Physical AI Acceleration Plan" focused on the robotics industry. Under the plan, JD Cloud will collect over 10 million hours of real-world human scenario video data within two years; over the next five years, JD.com will build 80 RoboBase robotics industry bases nationwide; JD Logistics will procure 3 million robots, 1 million autonomous delivery vehicles and 100,000 drones within five years, to advance end-to-end unmanned logistics operations. In addition, JD Logistics will build a robot maintenance service network, with 8 major maintenance centers already established across China. (Source: The Beijing News)

Xiaohongshu

1. Xiaohongshu Cracks Down on AI-Generated Fake Content in Medical Aesthetics, Homestay and Other Sectors

Xiaohongshu's official account "Shu Guanjia" released an Announcement on Governance of AI-Generated Fake Content Related to Medical Aesthetics, Homestays and Other Sectors, noting that the platform recently discovered some accounts using AI to generate fake experience notes, creating or splicing images with AI to fake real scenes, and fabricating experiences related to store visits, accommodation, medical treatment and beauty services, misleading user decisions.

From June to August this year, the platform removed nearly 120,000 fake notes generated and published via AI, removed over 4,000 violating notes in the medical aesthetics sector per day on average, and banned more than 4,200 violating accounts during the period.

Cross-Border · E-Commerce

1. TikTok Shop Launches Two-Way Cross-Border Sales Between EU and UK, Pilot in September, Full Rollout in October

TikTok Shop officially launched a two-way cross-border sales function between the European Union and the United Kingdom, with a pilot for select EU sellers starting September 21, and full rollout scheduled for October 19. Once the function is live, sellers in eight markets – Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain – will be able to sell to UK consumers, while UK sellers will be able to sell to 12 EU countries covered by the Sell Across Europe network.

In terms of eligibility, sales from the EU to the UK only support merchant self-fulfillment: sellers must independently select carriers, cover shipping costs, and handle logistics disputes on their own.

2. TikTok Adds Poll and Image/Text Reply Features to Comment Section, Upgrading Multi-Format Interactive Scenarios

TikTok recently rolled out a major upgrade to its comment section system, launching three new interactive tools at once to enrich user reply formats, improve interactive experience, and boost comment section engagement and community stickiness. The update covers voice comments, creator polls, photo carousels and live photo replies, with diverse functions suited to cross-border content operation needs. The 60-second maximum voice comment feature will be rolled out globally to users aged 18 and above within a month, supporting voice recording with auto-generated translated transcripts to help users express authentic feedback intuitively.

3. Amazon Ads Officially Integrates with ChatGPT, First Open to Select US Brands

Amazon announced an advertising partnership with OpenAI. Select Amazon DSP advertisers in the US market will be able to extend their ad campaigns to ChatGPT, with Delta Vacations among the first brands participating in the test. (For details, see Amazon Ads Officially Integrates with ChatGPT, First Open to Select US Brands)

According to currently disclosed information, advertisers can pay on a cost-per-click or cost-per-impression basis, or submit product catalogs for the system to automatically generate ad creatives. Ads will appear in text or image format below ChatGPT responses, with clear sponsorship labeling. The Amazon team is responsible for building and optimizing ad campaigns, while decisions on which ads to display and in which conversation contexts remain with OpenAI's ad system. Currently, the program operates as a managed service, only open to select US brands, with no self-service ad placement portal announced by Amazon. Regular Amazon sellers' Sponsored Products will not be automatically eligible for placement on ChatGPT.

4. Amazon Upgrades WhatsApp Shopping Service, Launches AI Shopping Assistant

According to foreign media reports, Amazon recently launched an upgraded WhatsApp shopping service for consumers. After receiving a message from Amazon, users can reply to check promotions, request product recommendations, search for related products, and then jump to the Amazon app or official website to complete purchases.

Practical testing shows that when asking the service for the best mosquito repellent spray, the system will first confirm the usage scenario: home use, horsefly repellent, or personal protection. After selecting home use, it will provide multiple options including products from two leading brands, then proactively ask if the user wants pet-safe options, discounted options, or plug-in alternative products.

5. Temu's BEMUVO Brand Launches in Japan and Canada, Unveiling PDD Holdings' Self-Operated Layout

Temu is quietly merging its platform role with its identity as a brand owner. A brand named BEMUVO has launched on sites including Japan and Canada, covering nearly 200 SKUs across home goods, T-shirts, and co-branded collections with Winx Club and Tom and Jerry. The trademark applicant is Shanghai Xinpinmuhongqiao E-Commerce Co., Ltd., with product pages noting direct supply from the brand official.

Xinpinmu is the global brand self-operated project PDD Holdings announced in March this year, integrating the supply chains of Pinduoduo and Temu, with an initial capital injection of 15 billion yuan and a planned total investment of 100 billion yuan over three years.

6. Cainiao Cross-Border Logistics Launches France "On-Time Delivery, Guaranteed Compensation" Line

On September 8, Cainiao Cross-Border Logistics officially launched its France "late delivery guaranteed compensation" dedicated line, promising delivery of cross-border parcels from China to France within 8 calendar days. For orders meeting the product compensation rules, if the actual delivery time exceeds the promised time limit, compensation will be automatically triggered even for a one-second delay. This marks the fifth country covered by the "guaranteed compensation" service, following the UK, US, Germany and the Netherlands.

To meet the delivery commitment for the France line, Cainiao has secured dedicated daily flight capacity, with sufficient cargo space and priority loading to improve trunk route stability. After parcels arrive in France, last-mile delivery is connected to France Post's Colissimo service to ensure local delivery and successful parcel drop-off.

Other Stories You May Care About

1. Multiple Regions Launch Inspections on Snack Brands Including Zhao Yiming and Haoxianglai

Recently, leading value snack brands including Zhao Yiming and Haoxianglai have been caught up in "short weighting" (giving less product than the weight paid for) controversies. In Hebei, a customer bought 4 pieces of beef jerky charged at 64.58 yuan per in-store weighing, which was only worth 17.29 yuan when reweighed. In Henan, a customer was charged 111 yuan at checkout, which dropped to 64.8 yuan after requesting a reweigh.

The Market Regulation Bureau of Baotou, Inner Mongolia, quickly launched a special measurement inspection campaign for the value snack industry across the city, targeting major chain snack stores including Haoxianglai, Zhao Yiming, Qilou Snacks and Cailiren, taking tough action against short-weighting violations.

The Market Regulation Bureau of Xinjiang County, Yuncheng, Shanxi, carried out targeted inspections of electronic pricing scales at local chain snack brand stores including Ling Shi You Ming, Zhao Yiming and Haoxianglai.

The Market Regulation Bureau of Funing County, Yancheng, Jiangsu, also launched a special measurement rectification campaign for the value snack sector, focusing on local major value snack chain stores including Haoxianglai and Zhao Yiming. Law enforcement officers carried standard weights to conduct comprehensive inspections of in-use electronic pricing scales, urging rectification for issues found including irregular scale management at individual stores and inadequate implementation of measurement coding requirements.

Subsequently, on September 7, Mingmang Henmang (the parent company of Ling Shi Henmang and Zhao Yiming Snacks) issued a response and apology over recent in-store weighing issues. The company stated it had proactively contacted market regulation authorities to report the situation and cooperate with inspections. It announced that its Ling Shi Henmang and Zhao Yiming Snacks brands would set up a special fund for advance compensation. Starting September 7, if weighing issues occur at stores, customers will receive compensation equal to 10 times the price difference of the misweighed product. The company also announced multiple rectification measures for weighing processes, including equipping all stores with unified standard weights and calibrating scales before opening each day.

On the same day, Haoxianglai, the value snack chain brand under Wanchen Group, issued a response to in-store weighing-related issues, apologizing for the poor experience and inconvenience caused to consumers. Haoxianglai stated it would set up a special consumer rights compensation fund. From the date of the announcement, if weighing and pricing errors occur at stores, after verification, compensation will be raised to 10 times the price difference of the misweighed product, up from the industry standard of 3 times the difference.

2. Wahaha Group Listed as Judgment Debtor

According to Tianyancha data, Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd. recently added a new judgment debtor entry, with an execution amount of over 18,000 yuan, handled by the Hangzhou Shangcheng District People's Court. The company was founded in February 1993, with Xu Simin as its legal representative, a registered capital of 530 million yuan, and business scope covering production and sales of Wahaha series products. It is jointly held by Hangzhou Shangcheng Culture, Commerce and Tourism Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., Zong Fuli, and the Grassroots Trade Union Joint Committee (Employee Stock Ownership Association) of Hangzhou Wahaha Group Co., Ltd.

3. Flower Knows Announces Global First Flagship Store, Advancing Offline Layout After Proya Acquisition

Beauty brand Flower Knows recently announced that its global brand flagship store will soon open. Located at 520 Huaihai Middle Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, the store is scheduled to officially open this fall. Notably, beauty collection store WOW COLOUR simultaneously announced the news, suggesting it may co-operate the store with Flower Knows.

Previously, Flower Knows' offline expansion in China and abroad primarily relied on entering beauty collection stores. As of 2025, Flower Knows had entered counters at over 2,000 domestic beauty collection stores, covering channels including WOW COLOUR, Sanfu, and Xiran. The brand first entered WOW COLOUR's offline collection stores as early as 2018.

The opening of the global flagship store is a key move following Proya's acquisition of Flower Knows. In May 2026, Proya acquired a 12.55% stake in Flower Knows for 351 million yuan, bringing its total ownership to 51%. According to the acquisition announcement, Flower Knows recorded full-year 2025 revenue of 1.726 billion yuan, net profit of 280 million yuan, for a net margin of 16.22%; in the first quarter of 2026, the brand recorded revenue of 675 million yuan, net profit of 155 million yuan, with net margin rising to 22.96%.

4. Chayan Yuese Closes Two Sub-Brands Consecutively

On the evening of September 7, Chayan Yuese published a post on its official WeChat account announcing that its sub-brand "Zhouye Shijiu Cha · Art Bistro" will gradually close all stores before October 31. This marks the second Chayan Yuese sub-brand to exit this year, following the full closure of "Xiaoshenxian Teahouse" at the end of July, representing a visible contraction of its multi-brand matrix.

5. Chagee Crosses Over to Sell Tea Eggs, Priced at 5 Yuan Each for Single Purchase

Chagee (Shanghai) announced via its official social media account on September 7 that tea eggs are now available at 7 stores in Shanghai, including the Shanghai Jin Mao Tower store, Shanghai Changning CapitaLand Raffles City store, and Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University store. The product is named "Baiwu Hongchen Tea Egg", priced at 5 yuan for a single order. When purchased with a full-price beverage, the add-on price is 2.5 yuan; before 10:30 every day, customers purchasing designated breakfast beverages can enjoy a 20% discount on the tea egg set.

When calling the Chagee Shanghai Jin Mao Tower store on September 8, staff stated that the tea egg offering is currently in a testing phase, only available for dine-in, not for delivery. Additionally, the 2.5 yuan add-on price is a limited-time offer running from September 7 to September 21, after which the regular price will resume. Chagee's official customer service stated that the tea egg offering is currently only available in Shanghai, with no confirmation on rollout to more cities, advising customers to follow official updates. (Source: Jiemian News)

6. After a Year and a Half, Heytea Reopens Franchise Application Portal

On September 7, Heytea relaunched the "Become a Partner" application portal via its "Heytea GO" mini-program. This marks the first time the official channel has reopened franchise recruitment since pausing new franchise sign-ups in February 2025, citing a goal to "avoid reckless, low-value scale expansion at the cost of quality". The relaunch is relatively low-key, with recruitment covering multiple domestic provinces and cities as well as overseas markets, and adding multiple risk reminders emphasizing prudent investment.

7. Haidilao's Barbecue Brand Yanqing Sees Mass Store Closures

From September 5 to 6, multiple media outlets reported that Yanqing Barbecue Shop, a barbecue sub-brand under Haidilao, is undergoing large-scale contraction. Between November 2025 and June 2026, at least 19 stores closed, with no new stores opened in the first half of 2026; all 3 stores in Guangzhou have closed, and stores in Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Tianjin and other cities have been shut down successively. Yanqing previously set a target of opening 400 to 500 stores in three years, with over 80 stores at its peak; currently, the number of operating stores has shrunk to just over 60.

8. Bestore Enters Fresh Snack Segment, First Store to Officially Open on September 12

On September 8, snack brand Bestore announced that its 7.0-generation new store format, "Bestore Fresh & Healthy Food Store", will officially open on September 12 at Han Shang Yinzuo in Hanyang, Wuhan. This marks the seventh store format upgrade in the 20 years since Bestore's founding, focusing on the two core values of "freshness" and "health", with systematic innovations in products, services and experience. The new store will feature fresh-baked goods, cold braised foods, daily-delivered baked goods and freshly made beverages, introducing cold-chain, short-shelf-life fresh and healthy foods covering diversified household consumption scenarios including breakfast, side dishes, afternoon tea, late-night snacks and outings.

9. Kweichow Moutai Raises Prices for the Sixth Time This Year

According to updates from Moutai self-operated stores across multiple regions, the retail price of 53% vol 500ml Feitian Kweichow Moutai has been raised from 1,753 yuan per bottle to 1,766 yuan per bottle, just one month after the last price adjustment. This marks the sixth price increase for Kweichow Moutai this year. In addition to Feitian Moutai, the price of 53% vol 1L Feitian Kweichow Moutai has been adjusted from 3,269 yuan per bottle to 3,291 yuan per bottle. The price hike also covers 53% vol 500ml Five-Star Kweichow Moutai, 53% vol 200ml Kweichow Moutai, and 53% vol 500ml×2 Kweichow Moutai (Bingwu Year of the Horse edition). Two products saw slight price cuts: the 53% vol 50ml×5 Kweichow Moutai (gold edition) and 43% vol 500ml Feitian Kweichow Moutai. (Source: The Paper)

10. SF Express' Middle East Headquarters Officially Commences Operations

SF Express' Middle East headquarters office area has officially relocated to a new site and commenced full operations, marking a new stage in SF's Middle East layout. The newly launched office area is adjacent to and closely integrated with SF Middle East's flagship self-operated warehousing center. The new self-operated SF warehouse in Dubai, supporting the headquarters relocation, covers an area of approximately 6,000 square meters and will soon be officially put into use. The warehouse is located in the JAFZA Free Trade Zone in Dubai, one of the most influential logistics and trade gateways in the Middle East.

This article was first published on the official website of Ebrun.