E-commerce Morning Briefing: WeChat Stores Unveils Double 11 Policy; U.S. CBP Suspends T86 De Minimis Exemption

Item 1: WeChat Stores Unveils Double 11 Policy with Platform Subsidies and Up to 2 Million Points Incentive. Ebrun learned that WeChat Stores released its 2026 Double 11 promotional incentive policy yesterday. The campaign will run from October 12 to November 15, spanning 35 days, with registration opening on September 28. Categories such as dining, hotel and travel, and event ticketing are excluded. The promotion features three core mechanics: cross-store full-reduction subsidies, live-streaming incentives and leapfrog rewards, and exclusive host coupons. Cross-store full reductions come in two modes: co-funded coupons and platform-funded coupons. For co-funded coupons, the platform and merchants split costs at a 1:1 ratio, with a maximum discount of 12.5% and a merchant cap of 6.25% of the promotional price. Platform-funded coupons target brand flagship stores, best-selling stores, and service-excellence stores, offering up to 100% subsidy on qualifying products. For live-streaming events, the base incentive per session reaches up to 900,000 points, with an additional 300,000 points in stacked incentives, allowing merchants to accumulate up to 2 million e-commerce growth card points during the campaign, up from last year's cap of 600,000 points.

Item 2: Tmall Home Appliances and Home Furnishings Shift Strategy for Double 11 with 'Integrated Disassembly, Delivery, and Installation' to Tap into Existing Home Renovation Demand. Targeting the existing housing market, Tmall recently announced four core moves for this year's Double 11 in the home appliances and home furnishings sector: integrated disassembly, delivery, and installation; online-offline integration; Taobao Flash Sale; and AI trend insights. Data shows that the share of second-hand home transactions rose from 27% in 2020 to 46% in 2025, reaching 52% in the first eight months of 2026. Orders for renovations of old and second-hand homes accounted for 78.5% of total home improvement orders, and homes aged 10 to 30 years generated three times more appliance sales than new homes within five years. Tmall will roll out its official 'integrated disassembly, delivery, and installation' service on a large scale, covering over ten categories such as toilets, shower heads, bathroom heaters, and clothes racks, with coverage exceeding 95% in first- and second-tier cities. Tmall also connects Tmall Youpin online and offline with same models and prices, enabling new products to enter 12,000 physical stores nationwide. After flagship stores integrated with Taobao Flash Sale, Midea saw orders exceed one million, and conversion rates for products with time-sensitive labels improved by 65%.

Item 3: Meituan's Wang Puzhong Says Instant Retail Enters the 'Product Era,' Adding One Million Quality Products to Every Business District. At the 2026 Meituan Instant Retail Industry Conference held yesterday, Wang Puzhong, CEO of Meituan's core local commerce business, stated that instant retail has passed the toughest phase of demand cultivation and network expansion, and the next step is a leap from the 'store-warehouse-delivery era' into the 'product era.' The conference, themed 'Product NEXT,' revealed that over the next three years, the instant retail industry aims to introduce one million quality products to every business district nationwide, which will serve as the primary growth driver and the largest incremental opportunity for brands and retailers. Meituan will collaborate with all brands and retailers to ensure quality products are available in every business district and delivered to every consumer.

Item 4: Douyin E-commerce Mid-Autumn Report Shows Over 24 Million Orders for Mooncakes and Gift Boxes, with GMV Up 102% Year-on-Year. Douyin E-commerce released its '2026 Mid-Autumn Seasonal Food Consumption Trends Report,' revealing a 102% year-on-year increase in GMV for mooncakes and gift boxes. During the campaign, seasonal Mid-Autumn foods saw concentrated growth, with cumulative searches for keywords like 'Mid-Autumn gift boxes' and 'mooncakes' on Douyin Mall exceeding 6 million. More than 24 million orders for mooncakes and gift boxes were sold, with nearly 70% of GMV generated from live-streaming sessions.

Item 5: Alibaba's Global E-commerce AI Workbench Accio Debuts at Apsara Conference, Turning Ideas into Business in 30 Minutes. Alibaba's global e-commerce AI workbench Accio made its debut at the 2026 Hangzhou Apsara Conference, where it hosted a '30-Minute E-commerce Entrepreneurship Hackathon': cross-border store setup in 30 minutes, market opportunity insights in 25 minutes, Taobao product marketing kits in 8 minutes, and industrial belt go-global opportunity diagnostics in 7 minutes. It was disclosed that in early September, Accio open-sourced CommerceAgentBench in Los Angeles, which includes 1.6 million real conversations, 200,000 execution trajectories, and 107 end-to-end business tasks. Token costs for some core tasks are 50% lower than general-purpose agents. Accio has already integrated with domestic platforms including Taobao, Tmall, 1688, Pinduoduo, JD.com, and Douyin Store, as well as international platforms like Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Temu, and TikTok Shop.

Item 6: Qingdao Issues 50 Million Yuan in 'Le Gou Qingdao' Online Retail Consumption Vouchers Across JD.com, Douyin, and Taobao/Tmall. According to the Qingdao Municipal Commerce Bureau, starting September 22, Qingdao will distribute 50 million yuan in 'Le Gou Qingdao' online retail consumption vouchers covering three major e-commerce platforms: JD.com, Douyin, and Taobao/Tmall. Categories include digital appliances, daily necessities, automotive products, fashion and beauty, and health and wellness (including elderly-friendly products). Consumers can search 'Qingdao consumption voucher' on the JD.com app, 'Le Gou Qingdao' on Douyin, or 'local subsidy' on Taobao/Tmall apps to access dedicated zones and claim vouchers. The vouchers apply to self-operated products from participating platforms, and cannot be combined with national trade-in subsidies. The distribution will continue through October until funds are exhausted. Investment-oriented commodities like gold and precious metals, virtual products, and stored-value cards are excluded.

Item 7: AliExpress Intensifies Efforts in High-Potential Markets with Over 50% GMV Growth in Multiple Countries and Full AI Assistant Rollout. AliExpress disclosed that its AI assistant for high-potential market smart operations is now fully deployed, using AI to manage over 200 countries and regions with high potential, generating incremental sales beyond core markets. This year, AliExpress introduced a 'one person, one country' solution for high-potential markets, doubling investment in these regions. In September, GMV in markets like Colombia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh grew by over 50% year-on-year. On the logistics front, AliExpress optimized delivery routes, improving package delivery times by over 10% and significantly reducing cases of non-delivery. New dedicated lines were added, expanding coverage for standard goods and adding more countries for special goods routes that include batteries or sensitive items.

Item 8: TikTok Shop Launches 'Sell Across EU' Pilot Between the UK and EU, Fully Opening 'One Store Sells Across Europe' on October 19. TikTok Shop began an early pilot of 'Sell Across EU,' a cross-border sales feature between the EU and the UK, on September 21. Invited sellers from eight EU countries—Belgium, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Spain—can self-fulfill orders to the UK. After the feature fully launches on October 19, UK sellers can list once and reach 12 EU markets, including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, achieving 'one store sells across Europe.' Note that the channel is not fully symmetrical: orders from the EU to the UK currently only support self-fulfillment, requiring sellers to choose carriers, bear shipping costs, and handle returns; UK sellers selling to the EU can choose between self-fulfillment and platform warehouse fulfillment. The platform also launched a VAT calculation service (VCS) and updated listing rules for restricted products in the EU.

Item 9: Amazon's Fall Prime Big Deal Days Scheduled for October 6-7, Covering 22 Countries. Amazon officially announced that its 2026 Fall Prime Big Deal Days will take place from October 6 to 7, lasting 48 hours, across 22 country sites simultaneously, covering more than 35 categories including home furnishings, digital and electronics, fashion, toys, and beauty. Daily rounds of limited-time lightning deals will be offered. Promotion submission deadlines are approaching: US sites by September 22, European sites by September 23, Canada by September 29, and Japan by October 11. In addition to lightning deals, sellers can participate with Prime-exclusive discounts and coupons, with up to 500 ASINs allowed per Prime-exclusive discount campaign. This event also marks the official start of Amazon's Q4 holiday shopping season.

Item 10: U.S. CBP Suspends T86 De Minimis Exemption and Launches ET13 Electronic Filing for Postal Packets. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched a test of Entry Type 13 (ET13) electronic simplified filing in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system yesterday, applicable to international postal packages valued at or below $2,500, on a voluntary basis. Only importers with Importer of Record (IOR) status or licensed customs brokers are eligible, and they must hold a continuous import bond, pay taxes monthly via Pay.gov, and submit reports by the 7th of the following month. Filings must include 12 core data elements, such as filer code, IOR number, 10-digit HTSUS tariff number, country of origin, and foreign postal tracking number. Meanwhile, CBP has indefinitely suspended the de minimis exemption for low-value packages under $800, which now require full formal or informal entry, significantly narrowing the T86 clearance path.

Item 11: Combined Spending on AliExpress, Temu, and SHEIN in South Korea Falls 19.6% Year-on-Year. Statistics show that in August, estimated credit/debit card spending on the three Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms—AliExpress, Temu, and SHEIN—in South Korea totaled 144.4 billion KRW, down 19.6% year-on-year. Specifically, AliExpress saw a 15.9% increase in monthly active users but a 27.9% decline in payments, with average monthly spending per user dropping from 15,600 KRW to 9,722 KRW. Temu's user base grew, but average order value fell from 8,721 KRW to 7,410 KRW. SHEIN experienced declines in both users and payments. In contrast, South Korea's local platform Coupang recorded 4.93 trillion KRW in payments during the same period, up 12.6% year-on-year, roughly 34 times the combined spending on the three Chinese platforms. Market context indicates that South Korea's e-commerce market has entered a mature phase, with growth slowing to 3.2%.

Item 12: Aukey's H1 Revenue Reaches 7.221 Billion Yuan, Up 28.77%, but Net Profit Attributable to Parent Falls 62.07%. Aukey's latest semi-annual report shows that in the first half of 2026, the company achieved revenue of 7.221 billion yuan, up 28.77% year-on-year, but net profit attributable to shareholders was only 40.918 million yuan, down 62.07%. By business segment, product sales revenue was 4.799 billion yuan, up about 22.4%; logistics solution revenue was 2.421 billion yuan, up 43.7%; gross margin dropped from 28.6% to 26.1%. The profit decline was driven by three pressures: insufficient order volume and low order density in the self-fulfillment business, with logistics gross margin falling from 10.2% to 7.6%; underutilized capacity in in-house factories, leading to high fixed-cost absorption pressure; and significant exchange losses due to currency fluctuations in the North American market.

That concludes today's morning briefing. For more e-commerce insights, stay tuned to Ebrun Audio News.

This article was originally published on the official Ebrun website.