E-commerce Morning Briefing: JD.com's Double 11 Sees Over 60% Growth in New Merchants with Million-Yuan Sales; TikTok Invests $980 Million in Logistics Hub

Message 1: At the 2026 JD.com Merchant Conference, four major upgrade initiatives were unveiled, with Double 11 expected to boost the number of new merchants achieving sales over one million yuan by more than 60%.

The conference, held in Beijing on September 22, saw JD.com announce four upgrade initiatives focusing on platform value proposition, synergy between first-party and POP models, increased investment support, and business environment optimization. The company also introduced a suite of AI tools to assist merchants in their operations. Data revealed that over the past year, JD.com's new merchant registrations grew by more than 30% year-over-year, with merchants achieving sales over 100 million yuan seeing double-digit growth in the first half of the year. Trend categories such as women's fashion, outdoor apparel, and pet supplies showed robust growth. JD.com Group CEO Xu Ran stated that the upcoming JD.com Double 11 would see increased investment, driving a year-over-year growth of over 60% in the number of new merchants with sales exceeding one million yuan. Currently, the Jingmai AI tool has helped 80% of new merchants improve operational efficiency and provides daily operational support to 96% of new merchants; the digital human JoyAvatar has served over 90,000 merchants, with live streaming duration and transaction volume during 618 increasing by more than fourfold year-over-year.

Message 2: Sources indicate that Doubao is downsizing its dialogue team, with the general session team expected to shrink by approximately half.

Reports suggest a recent personnel adjustment at Doubao, where the general session team, previously around 50 people and once the largest within Doubao, primarily responsible for dialogue product capabilities including strategy and evaluation, will see its size reduced by nearly half. After this adjustment, some staff will be transferred to Doubao commercialization, Feishu, and other teams, while the rest will be laid off.

Message 3: Pinduoduo's Xiong'an subsidiary exceeds 5,000 employees, completing the annual recruitment plan ahead of schedule.

The Pinduoduo Xiong'an company, established just over three months ago, has surpassed the 5,000-employee mark, significantly ahead of its yearly recruitment plan, and continues to set records for the pace of talent aggregation in Xiong'an New Area's private sector. Pinduoduo Group decided in May of this year to register a subsidiary in Xiong'an New Area, and within just four months, it has completed this year's hiring plan of 5,000 people.

Message 4: HLA's H1 revenue reached 12.42 billion yuan, up 7.38%, but net profit attributable to shareholders declined by 5.86% year-over-year.

HLA's latest semi-annual report shows H1 2026 revenue of 12.42 billion yuan, a 7.38% increase year-over-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders down 5.86%. By segment, the main brand generated 9.405 billion yuan in H1 revenue, an increase of 12.03%; the OVV, YeeHoO, and Black Whale brands brought in 1.94 billion yuan, up 29.34%; and the government and enterprise customization segment contributed 756 million yuan, still a small share. In terms of channels and overseas expansion, the company continues to push direct-operated store expansion and has entered markets such as South Africa and Kazakhstan, while also venturing into the outdoor segment with the outdoor brand HLA POW.

Message 5: The 5th Global Digital Trade Expo opened in Hangzhou, with over 2,000 enterprises exhibiting, approximately half being AI-related.

The fifth edition of the expo, which opened in Hangzhou yesterday, highlighted AI as its main theme. Under the banner "AI Empowering Digital Trade," the expo attracted over 2,000 global enterprises, with AI companies constituting about half. For the first time, a dedicated AI Future exhibition area was set up, comprehensively showcasing AI industry chains from computing infrastructure, model services, to application scenarios. The event also featured a Token overseas pavilion, hosted activities such as "Silk Road E-commerce Day" and "BRICS Dialogue," and planned 50 key events including the Digital Trade Venture Capital Day, unveiling a series of global digital trade achievements. The Global Digital Trade Innovation Competition this year, for the first time themed "Embodied Intelligence," saw over a hundred teams compete at the venue.

Message 6: Shiseido sues Aldi over alleged copying of 540-yuan CPB design in 24.9-yuan dupe.

Shiseido has filed a lawsuit against Aldi, claiming that Aldi's 24.9-yuan LACURA primer infringes on the design of its 540-yuan CPB primer, constituting unfair competition. This move is viewed within the industry as a direct response from premium beauty brands to supermarket private-label "low-cost imitations." Intensifying competition in China's beauty market has seen supermarket own brands entering the sector with cheap knockoffs, creating head-on collisions with high-end labels.

Message 7: Walmart Advertising China Summit reveals that 85% of cross-border e-commerce sellers on the platform use official advertising, achieving a 5:1 ROAS.

Data disclosed at the Walmart Advertising China Summit shows that 85% of cross-border e-commerce sellers on the platform are leveraging official advertising to drive growth, with a return on ad spend (ROAS) of 5:1. The inaugural Walmart Advertising China Annual Summit was held in Shenzhen, themed "Leading New Growth," attracting over 2,000 cross-border sellers and industry partners.

Message 8: TikTok invests $980 million in a logistics hub in Vietnam, targeting November launch.

Local reports indicate that Ho Chi Minh City's finance department has issued an investment license to Tokgistic Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-registered affiliate of TikTok, approving a $980 million (approximately 6.57 billion yuan) investment for the Swift Logistics project, with an initial injection of $196 million and a planned launch in November this year. Combined with the $125 million project already funded in April, TikTok's total registered investment in Ho Chi Minh City for 2026 reaches $1.105 billion. The project will establish core warehousing hubs, intelligent sorting centers, and comprehensive scheduling systems, relying on local logistics for last-mile delivery, with a target annual capacity of 1 to 2 billion orders. According to Metric data, TikTok Shop's market share in Vietnam reached 43.4% in 2025, growing 83% year-over-year.

Message 9: France's H1 e-commerce sales surpassed 102 billion euros, up 6.6%, while traffic on Temu and SHEIN saw significant declines.

Latest Fevad data shows French online sales exceeded 102 billion euros in H1 2026, a 6.6% increase year-over-year, with Q2 growth at 8.5%. June saw product sales rise 12.2% driven by promotions, the World Cup, and high temperatures, but growth slowed to 4.8% in July. Transaction volumes grew 13.5%, while average order value decreased 4.3% to 59.7 euros. During the same period, traffic on Chinese platforms declined notably: in July, Temu's traffic fell 36.4%, SHEIN's dropped 42.3%, and AliExpress saw a 10.4% decrease.

Message 10: Cainiao and 4PX partner to launch UK service with 100% compensation for undelivered shipments within 3 days.

Cainiao, in collaboration with 4PX, announced an upgrade to cross-border parcel services from China to the UK, introducing a "Late Delivery Compensation" mechanism on top of the existing global 3-day delivery promise. If a parcel is not delivered within 3 calendar days, the platform will initiate full compensation automatically, with no claim required from the seller.

Message 11: Bain expects U.S. holiday retail sales to exceed $1 trillion for the first time, with SHEIN's year-end sales spanning over two months.

Bain & Company forecasts that U.S. holiday retail sales from November to December 2026 will surpass $1 trillion for the first time. Adobe data shows consumers starting to stock up as early as mid-October. In this context, SHEIN has set its year-end sales period from October 19 to December 27, lasting over two months, covering multiple key promotional events like Double 11, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Double 12, and is opening cooperation with plus-size apparel suppliers capable of fast product launches and ODM development. After Black Friday and Cyber Monday, demand for Christmas and New Year party wear and winter travel outfits is expected to continue.

Message 12: "Gift wrapping" searches heat up earlier in the U.S., with packaging products trending on TikTok Shop US.

Google Trends shows that over the past 30 days, "gift wrapping" search interest in the U.S. has remained high, and packaging products on TikTok Shop in the U.S. are selling early. A double-sided wrapping paper sold over 2,100 units in two months, drawstring gift bags have reached cumulative sales of 75,000 units, and a 2-in-1 cutter sold nearly 4,000 units in the last 28 days. Sellers are advised to focus on personalized and "easy wrapping" solutions, testing in September and October to prepare for the Q4 peak season.

That concludes today's morning briefing. For more e-commerce insights, follow Ebrun audio news.

This article originally appeared on the official Ebrun website.