Alibaba Group has upped its investment in technology and doubled down on loyalty programs to provide consumers with an immersive shopping experience during this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.

“We aim to provide value to our consumers across a longer time cycle using technology and innovation and translate this into growth opportunities for our merchants,” said Chui Xue, President of Industry Development and Operation Center of Taobao and Tmall, at an online press conference on Wednesday.

This year’s 11.11 will feature over 290,000 brands from more than 90 countries and regions, offering products in close to 7,000 categories. There are around 40,000 merchants from outside of China participating in 11.11 via Alibaba’s cross-border marketplace Tmall Global. 

About 2,000 brands will use immersive technology in livestreaming rooms to launch products this 11.11. Digital marketplaces Tmall and Taobao are also working on promoting greater use of artificial reality in livestreaming and short videos to enhance consumers’ experience.

More consumers are joining the loyalty membership programs offered by their favorite brands on the two platforms. Over 40 brands have loyalty membership programs with over 10 million members, while nearly 600 have more than one million members.

Alibaba is also building up data and digital infrastructure to ensure timely delivery for this 11.11. The infrastructure will ensure that each parcel is monitored in real-time and can adjust its delivery route accordingly.

Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao Network is building a system to realize door-to-door delivery through its Cainiao Post pick-up stations.

Key quotes

“We will ensure access to China’s most valuable consumers for our merchants and help transform them into loyal consumers.”

“We firmly believe that customer loyalty is the most reliable source of growth for our merchants in the long run.”

This story has been updated with the overall number of brands participating in 11.11 and the number of merchants using Tmall Global