Alibaba’s O2O deals day shows the difference between China’s North and South

Image credit: Mike DelGaudio

When it comes to big sales in China, there’s really only one day worth mentioning: Singles Day, also sometimes called Double Elevens. But a couple of years ago, hoping to repeat the magic of Singles Day, China’s etailers started offering similar deals in December for a new holiday called Double Twelves. This past Saturday was Double Twelves, and Alibaba has shared some fun statistics about the O2O side of its efforts.

Specifically, through Alipay and Koubei (Alibaba’s O2O arm), the company offered deals at supermarkets and other shops with daily-use goods around the country. Customers just had to go to the shop, grab the items they wanted, and then scan a coupon on their smartphone during checkout to get the discount. Alibaba says that over 28 million people participated in the deals day, and most of them (79 percent) were young adults aged 16-35.

North vs. South

The real interesting data comes in looking at the regional variances in product purchases. People all over the country bought paper towels, but their food purchase habits might reveal some cultural differences between (going by the traditional stereotypes) China’s hardy North and more refined South.

At the grocery store, for example, Southerners stocked up on soy milk more than any other treat during the deals day. But up North, people were more interested in buying Yakult (a Japanese dairy drink).

In the South, when it came time to buy a beverage, most people opted for iced tea. But China’s Northerners, who apparently needed some energy to get through their Saturday shopping spree, went for Red Bull.

Perhaps the most telling difference: in the South, the most-purchased snack was chocolate. Up North, it was beef jerky.

When it came to buying delivery meals, though, everybody was on the same page. The most popular order by far on the day was fried chicken: people used Alipay to place 960,000 fried chicken orders over the course of the day.