(Yicai Global) Oct. 25 -- Chinese e-commerce platforms have begun to launch sales promotions with still two-and-half weeks to go until the highly anticipated Double 11 online shopping bonanza in November, which lets retailers offer huge discounts to drum up sales, Yicai Global has learned.

Some 290,000 global brands as well as millions of individual merchants and small and medium-sized businesses are participating in this year’s shopping gala on Alibaba Group Holding’s e-commerce platform Tmall, Chui Xue, manager of the firm’s Taobao and Tmall industrial development and operations center, told Yicai Global. This compares to just 27 vendors in the first Double 11 gala held in 2009.

Tmall started its Singles’ Day presales at 8 p.m. China time yesterday, allowing customers to make advance payments based on promotional prices available during the online shopping festival, which falls on Nov. 11 each year.

Rivals JD.com, Pinduoduo and Suning.com already started presales on Oct. 20.

“Judging from the sales volume on our first promotional day on Oct. 20, people’s spending potential is far higher than during last year’s Double 11 gala and this year’s June 18 shopping festival,” a person in charge of promotions at Shanghai-based Pinduoduo told Yicai Global.

Sales of computer, communication and consumer products, as well as home appliances, cosmetics, clothing, mother and baby goods and agricultural goods were much higher on Oct. 20 than a year earlier, the person said, adding that there are more customers from smaller third- and fourth-tier cities.

Mobile phones are the most popular product, and the company has shifted over CNY100 million (USD13.7 million) worth already in pre-sales, he added. Small home appliances are also in high demand.

“Our investment in this year’s Double 11 festival is unprecedented,” said Dai Shan, president of domestic digital commerce at Hangzhou-based Alibaba. The investment is being used to improve the platform’s capabilities in consumer decision making, logistics and supply chain upgrades.

Zhejiang Silibo Sleep Technology started getting ready for the Double 11 shopping bonanza in September and will have a presence on JD.com, Tmall, Tiktok’s Chinese version Douyin and short video platform Kuaishou, said Chen Dengfeng, vice president of the bedding supplier.

Silibo expects to shift up to CNY30 million (USD4.1 million) worth of its AiSleep goods over the festival. But although sales are important, the Hangzhou-based company’s main goal is to provide customers with a better experience and service, Chen said.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor