SHANGHAI—October 30, 2025—Upcoming Singles Day promotions indicate rising globalization of Chinese e-commerce, a sign of maturing growth in the domestic market. Chinese e-commerce players now face new challenges as they move into their next phase of growth, according to a new report, China’s Global Push in Retail: What Executives Need to Know, by Bain & Company.

As Taobao gears up to launch simultaneous promotions in 20 countries, Singles Day is set to have a decidedly international flavor this year. This push is one sign of the broader globalization of Chinese e-commerce observed in recent years.

In Southeast Asia, Chinese-owned players account for as much as 50% of business-to-consumer e-commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. This has been built up through a combination of organic expansion and acquisition, underpinned by low prices that meet the needs of many developing market consumers.

Beyond the region, AliExpress, Shein and Temu have established a solid presence across Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Europe. Additionally, in the United States – the world’s largest retail market – Chinese e-commerce players also have a high-profile foothold. This global expansion has been fueled by China’s preeminence in e-commerce and the speed at which the domestic market continues to evolve.

“Taobao’s Singles Day expansion into 20 markets this year is a clear sign of Chinese e-commerce globalization, and the scale of China’s innovations gives them unique advantages abroad,” said Weiwen Han, senior partner and APAC Retail practice leader at Bain & Company. “But with local growth maturing and international scrutiny rising, the next phase will be won by players that pair innovation with disciplined execution – market by market.”

Evolving from old-school e-commerce to today’s social-media-driven retail and near-instant fulfillment, the rapid progression of the Chinese domestic market has equipped players with homegrown capabilities enabling them to compete successfully in foreign markets. This includes rapid product innovation, creative demand generation, accelerated fulfilment, visionary expansion of digital ecosystems and skillful use of AI.

However, for all their progress, growth has been maturing domestically – held back by increased competition from a proliferation of rival sales events, the difficulty of increasing local consumer participation beyond its already-high levels and the general economic slowdown in China.

In 2024, the Singles Day promotional period more than doubled from 11 days to 28 days, and while GMV rose 27% to RMB 1.442 trillion, this was massively inflated by the extension of the festival period. Average GMV per promotion day dropped by 50%, even with the early impact of government economic stimulus measures.

Looking to this year’s performance, ongoing consumer incentives helped lift sales for the 618 festival by 15.2% to RMB 856 billion, though that gain also reflected a longer promotional window.

Chinese retailers are likely to have realistic expectations about GMV growth for Singles Day this year and are using the occasion to showcase innovation. Despite so, the relative stagnant performance over recent years underlines the need to find revenue growth beyond China – fast.

As global expansion becomes more critical for Chinese e-commerce groups, it is also becoming more difficult due to three reasons:

1. Tightening regulation

The US has removed “de minimis” exemptions for low-value postal consignments after a surge in exports using the loophole, and the European Union has also been looking at taking a tougher approach in this regard. Chinese retailers also face concerns over data privacy, national security, product safety, and other elements of consumer protection, as well as unfair competition with local businesses.

2. Formidable incumbents

While Chinese retailers’ low prices have won market share from brick-and-mortar retailers, other e-commerce specialists have proven to be formidable competitors. In Southeast Asia, Lazada has lost share to Shopee. In the US, taking on incumbents like Amazon and Walmart was always going to be hard even before regulation tightened. Likewise, Mercado Libre’s powerful ecosystem makes it a formidable rival in Latin America. International competition between Chinese retailers also should not be underestimated.

3. Consumer differences

Countries most receptive to Chinese retailers tend to be highly price-sensitive and open to impulse purchases from phones. By contrast, consumers in markets including the US, the UK and Japan are more likely to begin with an online search. For these markets, browsing and shopping in brick-and-mortar stores remains a powerful habit, hence it will not be easy for Chinese retailers to replicate their past success due to deep-lying differences in consumer behavior across markets.

In response, Chinese e-commerce retailers are recognizing the value of deeper local penetration as they expand abroad, as talks of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), including partnerships with local players fill headlines.

“The internationalization of Chinese retail is entering a new phase,” said Han. “As Chinese players adapt to local customers, culture and rules abroad, we can expect more M&As, but to become true leaders, they should continue to leverage on their disruptive capabilities – and from the cutting-edge Chinese e-commerce market they have now started to outgrow.” 

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Media contacts:

Dan Pinkney (Boston) — dan.pinkney@bain.com 

Gary Duncan (London) — gary.duncan@bain.com

Ann Lee (Singapore) — ann.lee@bain.com

Rachel Ng (Kuala Lumpur) – rachel.ng@bain.com

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