China's largest online shopping spree gets greener

With the 13th China's Singles' Day approaching, the retail presales are looking impressive, as are the event's support for green consumption and the healthy development of e-commerce platforms.

The annual event, which falls on Thursday, was first started by Alibaba's e-commerce platform on Nov. 11, 2009, and quickly grew into a major shopping spree. However, it now carries additional connotations, thanks to enterprises' growing awareness of social responsibility and the country's detailed regulatory policies.

Also known as Double Eleven, the festival is no longer simply a consumption extravaganza but also a platform for promoting the concept of building a better life, according to Chris Tung, chief marketing officer at Alibaba Group.

A smart sorting system sorts packages at a distribution center of SF Express in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, Nov. 7, 2021. (Photo by Liang Xiaopeng/Xinhua)

"Here we want to convey ideas. What is deemed a good life, and what kind of actions are worthy of common aspirations. In addition to benefits, convenience and quality, we also hope to make long-term thinking that is more in line with the needs of social development and assume more corporate responsibilities," Tung said.

SHOPPING GREENER

This year marks the largest Singles' Day shopping festival on Tmall, with a record 290,000 brands participating and more than 14 million varieties of commodities offering discounts, according to the company. However, instead of simply luring consumers to sweep up the goods, the company has started encouraging them to shop "greener."

At 1:00 a.m. on Nov. 1, an hour into Tmall's first three-day discount period, over 25,000 water-saving flush toilets were swept away.

"If each toilet is used five times per day on average, then 225 tonnes of water can be saved in a day," said the company.

Tmall plans to issue 100 million yuan (about 17.2 million U.S. dollars) of green vouchers this year, encouraging consumers to buy energy-efficient home appliances and products with "green" certificates, as part of the efforts to support the country's carbon-reduction goals.

Besides, 60,000 courier stations under Alibaba's logistics arm Cainiao Network have prepared 7.5 million eggs as a reward for consumers recycling the parcel boxes.

Photo taken on May 28, 2019 shows a paper box that can be recycled for packaging displayed during the 2019 Global Smart Logistics Summit in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

"I have recycled 11 parcel boxes during this year's Singles' Day shopping spree, and the reward makes me feel encouraged and proud that I can make my own contribution to saving energy," said a resident in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province.

E-commerce giant JD.com has also joined the "low carbon" campaign, developing recyclable packaging, deploying new-energy cargo vans and adopting photovoltaic power generation in warehousing.

"E-commerce platforms have a natural advantage in promoting green consumption, and they can help establish a full green supply chain," said Jin Min, a professor with the Renmin University of China, adding that the Double Eleven shopping spree can help leverage the huge green consumer market.