MoonFox Analysis | Online Travel Platforms Empower Double 11 Shopping Festival, "Competing" to Drive Growth and New Trends

About us: Aurora Mobile (NASDAQ:JG) established in 2011, is a leading customer engagement and marketing technology service provider in China. Its business includes notification services, marketing growth, development tools, and data products. As its sub-brand, MoonFox Data is a leading expert in data insights and analysis services across all scenarios, aiming to help companies gain market insights and empower precise decision-making.

SHENZHEN, China, Dec. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Since October, with the pre-Double 11 promotional period starting earlier, major online travel agency (OTA) platforms such as Fliggy, Ctrip, and ly.com have launched their respective Double 11 campaigns. Fliggy upgraded its "Fantastic Travel Festival" to the "Global Travel Festival," focusing on the growth potential of cross-border tourism. Ctrip introduced the "Ctrip Bargain Festival" to promote its "Order Now, Pay Later" discount products. Meanwhile, ly.com, Tuniu.com, Qunar.com, and other platforms actively launched special Double 11 promotions and exclusive offers.

With the growing demand for both domestic and international travel, coupled with platform-based sales and marketing and financial services support, many platforms have achieved remarkable results during this major sales event. This has driven multi-dimensional growth in terms of participating merchants, SKUs, paid unique visitors (UV), and gross merchandise volume (GMV). The "involution" among OTA platforms during the Double 11 competition not only boosts performance but also enhances platform value, helping to address the supply-demand imbalance in cultural tourism consumption and deepening collaboration within the tourism and culture industry chain.

I.    Promotion Review: OTA Platforms Enhance Their Double 11 Efforts, Achieving Strong Overall Performance

• Fliggy: Capitalizing on Cross-Border Travel Growth Opportunities by Expanding SKU Range and Enhancing Member Benefits and Service Fulfillment

As Alibaba's comprehensive travel service platform, Fliggy has actively participated in Double 11 promotions for several years. Following its brand upgrade in 2016, Fliggy reported a GMV of RMB 2.17 billion during the last Double 11 event. Over the years, Fliggy has strengthened its participation by integrating resources to empower partners, co-developing cultural tourism IP to diversify its offerings, leveraging the Taobao ecosystem for KOL and live streaming marketing, and improving inventory and redemption rates. These efforts have consistently enhanced the event each year, driving growth across various metrics, including SKU volume, content unique visitors (UV), brand sales, and follower counts.

Fliggy Double 11 Performance and Strategic Approach (2016-2023)

Data Source: Public information

On October 14, 2024, Fliggy launched its Double 11 themed event, the "Global Travel Festival," continuing its strategy from previous years with a special emphasis on the growing cross-border tourism market. The platform expanded its product offerings, with outbound tourism products nearly doubling compared to the same period last year. Additionally, it hosted live streaming events for various cross-border destinations through its official live streaming room.

On the consumer side, Fliggy upgraded its membership benefits and strengthened its inventory assurance mechanisms to enhance the purchasing and reservation redemption experience. According to transaction data, the number of consumers completing transactions on Fliggy during Double 11 increased by 40% year-over-year, with product sales growing at a double-digit rate. By midnight on November 12, the GMV for pre-booked products had risen by approximately 90% year-over-year, achieving dual growth in both product sales and redemption efficiency.

Furthermore, including Fliggy's Super VIP live streaming room, the platform's official matrix created 19 individual products with GMV exceeding RMB 10 million each, and 22 promotional products surpassed RMB 100 million in sales. By improving sales efficiency, Fliggy empowered brand merchants across multiple tracks.

• Ctrip: Promoting "Order Now, Pay Later" Service, Driving Growth Among Young and Elderly Consumers

Ctrip launched its major promotional event, the "Ctrip Bargain Festival," on October 14, running for one month. The platform partnered with nearly 100 travel companies to offer subsidies totaling billions of RMB, covering travel, hotels, tickets, and car rentals, with products available for pre-purchase for the upcoming Labor Day holidays in 2025.

In terms of services, Ctrip upgraded its "Pay Now, Use Later" service to "Place Order Now, Pay Later" during this Double 11 event, covering 15 countries and regions globally, with 90,000 hotel package products available daily. Users could pre-purchase packages within their credit limit through the "Place Order Now, Pay Later" service, making payment on the repayment date the following month after actual redemption, thus avoiding the need to tie up consumer funds in advance.

According to official reports, Ctrip anticipates a growth rate of over 50% for pre-sale products during Double 11. By October 13, global orders on the platform had more than tripled year-over-year. The "Place Order Now" service performed exceptionally well, accounting for over 80% of total orders, with usage by hundreds of thousands of consumers. New users increased by over 50% year-over-year, particularly among younger users born in the 1990s, who showed higher acceptance and more noticeable growth. The elderly tourist group that Ctrip had previously targeted also contributed significant incremental growth during this Double 11 event.

Based on data from MoonFox iApp, both Fliggy and Ctrip experienced rapid growth in new users following the launch of their Double 11 campaigns on October 14. By October 15, both platforms reached peak new user acquisition rates, highlighting the significant impact of the Double 11 promotion on user acquisition.

New Users for Ctrip & Fliggy Apps (October 7-20, 2024)

Data Source: MoonFox iApp

Data Cycle: October 7, 2024 - October 20, 2024

While overall retail promotions during Double 11 yielded moderate results, the cultural tourism sector excelled, driven by shifting consumer demand and innovative supply strategies that boosted sales of travel-related products. This underscores the value of Double 11 as a platform for stimulating consumption and enhancing marketing efforts, particularly within the tourism sector.

II.   Consumer Trends: Outbound Tourism and "Order Now" Services Gain Popularity, with "Place Order Now, Pay Later" Rapidly Gaining Traction

According to Double 11 performance reports from various platforms such as Fliggy, Ctrip, and Tuniu, outbound tourism, winter sports tourism, and migratory tourism have become mainstream choices, driven by current trends and seasonal demand. The ongoing recovery of outbound tourism has resulted in a travel deficit of USD 158.2 billion in the first three quarters of 2024, reflecting a 30% year-over-year increase.

In terms of consumer behavior, choices have become more personalized and self-service, with a growing preference for diverse and niche countries and cities as outbound tourism destinations. In response to these trends, OTA platforms have intensified their focus on outbound tourism products during Double 11, enhancing their competitiveness through live streaming marketing, car rental services, and other resources. As visa policies continue to improve and pre-sale products enter the redemption phase, the outbound tourism market is expected to experience further growth.

Ctrip and Ly.com's Recent Performance in Cross-border Tourism

Data Source: Public information, company financial reports

Under the momentum of Double 11, consumption of high-end hotel products experienced significant growth. As of November 5, 2024, Fliggy's platform sold over 2 million high-star hotel packages, with conversion rates improving by approximately 70%. Overall, there was a noticeable increase in brand participation, better value for money in packages, and fewer consumption restrictions.

According to MoonFox iBrand data, from November 12 to 13, when pre-sale products entered the redemption phase, the customer unique visitor (UV) index for tourism and hotel brands like Marriott, Grand Hyatt, and Four Seasons saw substantial increases. This resulted in a recent surge in traffic and notable year-over-year growth.

In-store Customer UV Index Growth for High-End Hotel Brands (October 13 to November 13, 2024)

Data Source: MoonFox iBrand

Data Cycle: October 13, 2024 - November 13, 2024

The "Place Order Now, Pay Later" model has become normalized and is now an essential form of tourism consumption. During this Double 11 campaign, platforms expanded the coverage of the "Place Order Now" business to include products like flight tickets, hotels, tickets, and car rentals, encompassing both domestic and international travel routes.

Additionally, platforms upgraded related services to encourage actual redemption and provide adequate guarantees, such as the option for anytime cancellations and refunds. The "Pay Now, Use Later" model has further evolved into the "Place Order Now, Pay Later" framework. Fliggy, leveraging the Ant Credit Pay mechanism, developed the "Place Order Now, Pay Later, and Refundable if Unused" service and introduced a new "RMB 0 for Purchase Rights" feature.

Ctrip expanded its financial services to offer "Place Order Now, Pay Later, RMB 0 for Placing Orders" for credit purchases. Previously, Ctrip's targeted invites for testing the "Place Order Now, Pay Later" feature resulted in a 20% increase in hotel group purchase pre-orders. During Double 11, this feature gained further traction, strengthening pre-sale scenarios and driving user conversion and sales growth.

III. Supply Trends: Deepening Collaboration Across the Tourism Industry to Amplify the Value of OTA Platforms

During the Double 11 promotion, strong sales of tourism products were driven by sustained high demand for travel throughout 2024 and intensified industry competition, which pushed suppliers to offer greater value-for-money products and service upgrades. For instance, Tuniu enhanced its hotel package offerings during Double 11 by implementing policies such as no price increases during peak seasons, no minimum stay requirements, and flexible usage for multiple families, while also extending the validity period to address consumer pain points and improve market competitiveness.

For merchants, OTA platforms have reshaped the supply model through the "Place Order Now" business and "package-based" pre-sale models. This approach not only helps merchants secure consumer demand in advance and achieve growth during the off-season but also enables them to balance inventory, spread seasonal costs, optimize operational efficiency, and enhance brand value. The success of this Double 11 campaign has prompted more travel companies to recognize the incremental value beyond traditional OTAs, leading to deeper supplier engagement and stronger cooperation throughout the tourism industry's supply chain.

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SOURCE Aurora Mobile Ltd