Hidden After-hours Trading: Another Battlefield in the Second Half

The major promotion has just concluded, and most of the industry's attention has been focused on GMV, best - selling product lists, and platform battle reports. This year's sales rhythm remained robust. Most brands successfully achieved their phased goals, and the pace of new product launches and the continuation of old product sales were all within expectations.

The major promotion was indeed bustling. According to publicly available data, during this year's Double 11, more than 2 million new products were launched on the Taotian platform alone. Thanks to the improvement in production efficiency and the changes in content, design, and product testing speed brought about by AI, the rhythm of new product launches was faster than in previous years, and the explosion window was also shorter.

Most merchants seized the opportunity. However, in such a high - density trial - and - error process, it was inevitable that some SKUs failed to stand out during the promotion window due to factors such as rhythm judgment, seasonal fluctuations, and supply - chain production scheduling. Once the promotion ended, these products turned from implicit variables into explicit inventory pressure.

Inventory clearance has never been an easy task for brands. Caught between price protection and product discounting, brands are in a dilemma between "not being able to break the price" and "having to clear the inventory." This is a problem that merchants have to face at the end of every major promotion season.

While the industry was struggling with these issues, at the end of the year, a new solution "circulating within the industry" emerged. "Special Sale Benefit", a new way that "does not affect the flagship store's price and yet allows transactions on Taobao", has appeared.

01. Inventory, the Hidden End of Merchants' Operations

For most merchants, inventory pressure is a longer - lasting and more real after - effect.

In fact, inventory has never been a problem that only appears during major promotions; it is just magnified and made visible during these promotion periods.

The front - end rhythm of e - commerce is getting faster and faster: resource placement, explosion windows, and content trends all experience concentrated surges in a short period. However, the rhythm on the supply - chain side cannot keep up. Whether it is the inventory plan made months in advance or the production schedule based on historical model predictions, it is impossible to achieve 100% matching with current demand. This time difference makes inventory inherently uncertain and lagging.

This kind of leftover inventory has always been an "implicit business" in the industry that is rarely publicly discussed but that everyone has to face.

On the platform, merchants usually use methods such as lucky bags, blind boxes, and clearance zones to deal with low - sensitivity products. In the broader e - commerce ecosystem, platforms like Kuaituantuan and community group - buying leaders' networks have taken on a large amount of leftover product circulation. In recent years, the rising live - streaming e - commerce has also become an important channel for many brands to centrally handle old models and out - of - stock sizes.

These channels are all playing a role, but they have also made the clearance process gradually take on a "drifting state." Although the inventory is cleared, it is getting farther and farther away from the main brand system.

In recent years, this pressure has increased. The speed on the supply side has become so fast that traditional clearance methods can no longer keep up. The growth rate of SKUs is much higher than the market's absorption rate of new products. The "blockbuster product logic" forces brands to constantly place bets and make trial - and - errors. Once there is a rhythm deviation, inventory can turn from a tail - end issue into a "mid - stage pressure": it not only occupies warehousing costs but also affects cash flow; it must be dealt with in a timely manner but cannot be discounted at will; it needs to be quickly disposed of but cannot disrupt the operation of the main store, and it cannot damage the brand's cross - platform rhythm.

What's more troublesome is that most of this inventory is no longer the "low - priced tail - end goods" of three or five years ago. Instead, they are an operable inventory with brand recognition, certain premium capabilities, and still competitive in design and quality. Their price system, evaluation system, and consumer matching degree all determine that merchants can no longer handle them in a "simple disposal" way.

User assets have also become more valuable than ever. Every consumer lost during the clearance process means an increase in the operating cost of the main business.

Thus, a typical dilemma emerges: brands must clear the inventory but cannot break the price; they need efficiency but cannot damage the public domain; they need to handle the inventory but cannot let users flow outside the system.

Against this background, of course, some brands are looking for solutions. According to 36Kr's observation, some brands are trying to change the clearance process from "going out" to "bringing back." Without disrupting the flagship store's price system, they are trying to improve inventory turnover efficiency through new models.

It is understood that there are many brands that have achieved single - event transactions exceeding one million through the Special Sale Benefit cooperation. Among them are brands such as KinuoPu, Dr. Kong, Bosideng, Anta, Xtep, 361 Degrees, Camel, Sanyuan Sancai, Baicaowei, Babycare, and Balabala.

An industry insider gave an example of Camel Men's Wear. Through the Special Sale Benefit business, the brand achieved transactions exceeding one million within an hour of the event's launch, and all products were sold out within two hours, contributing 90% of the store's daily transactions. More importantly, this round of inventory clearance did not affect the price stability of the flagship store; instead, it drove the overall business growth of the store.

02. Clearance Can Also Be an Operation

The features of Special Sale Benefit are not complicated, but they directly address the root contradictions of the past clearance models. It achieves three key things simultaneously:

Products can be sold at a special - sale rhythm; the price does not disrupt the public domain; and the customer base can flow back to the brand.

This is why it has been quickly discussed among merchants after the major promotion ended.

Firstly, it is about the operation rhythm. Compared with traditional clearance channels, the rhythm of Special Sale Benefit seems to have been "re - calibrated." It no longer relies on long - term volume - based sales to gradually digest inventory, nor does it push hundreds of SKUs to group - buying leaders to gradually complete the clearance in a long sales chain.

Instead, it is focused, fast, and high - density, and the entire process is more like a "brand - specific event," except that it takes place in the private domain.

In Special Sale Benefit, an event usually selects only a small number of key products (about dozens per event) as the main promotion targets. Promoters reach the target users in the private domain in a concentrated manner, and the density of product promotion is almost like a concentrated information blast. Then, the traffic is quickly guided back to the Taobao store to complete a short and compact transaction window. The rhythm is so fast that merchants can measure the effect in "hours," achieving a real - sense "plant - and - harvest - immediately" situation.

According to industry insiders, KinuoPu once sold out its main - promoted products within two hours through Special Sale Benefit. The brand does not need to wait or continuously invest in long - tail sales; it only needs to seize a concentrated window period.

Secondly, it is about the "secrecy" of the price and inventory.

In the difficult problem of inventory management, the price issue has always been the most sensitive part that can easily backfire on the brand's operation. In the past clearance channels, even if the products could be quickly sold, as long as the price spilled over into the public domain, it would cause a series of chain reactions: the brand image of the flagship store would be damaged, the platform's price - comparison link would get out of control, the cross - channel distribution system would be forced to adjust, and it would even affect the price strategy for the next major promotion.

The reason why Special Sale Benefit has attracted attention is precisely that it has made this a "secret operation." From 36Kr's personal experience, all SKUs participating in Special Sale Benefit, even though the transactions still occur on Taobao, are almost "invisible" to ordinary users.

They cannot be found in searches, in the recommendation stream, or even in the normal path of the flagship store. They will only be awakened in private - domain reach links such as WeChat and appear in the specific purchase links of certain consumers.

In essence, it splits the clearance scenario into two layers: it is public to the brand and hidden from the public domain. For brands with cross - platform and multi - channel operations, the significance of this "secret inventory" is particularly obvious. Previously, brands often had to hold numerous meetings before clearance just to determine: how much price fluctuation can they tolerate to get rid of this batch of inventory? Will it affect offline sales? Will it affect the next wave of new product launches?

In Special Sale Benefit, clearance becomes a "safe operation" that does not require additional costs, does not need remedial actions, and will not disrupt the system.

What's more interesting is that Special Sale Benefit provides a possibility. Inventory may also be a shortcut to expanding the customer base.

In traditional clearance channels, the link between users and the brand is basically broken. Although platforms like group - buying leaders' networks, distribution systems, and live - streaming special events can quickly clear the inventory, the user link has almost nothing to do with the brand.

After consumers place an order, they will not become brand members, will not be retained as assets in the brand's main store, and even after - sales and evaluations occur outside the system. For brands, this kind of transaction is more like digestion rather than operation.

Special Sale Benefit has changed this situation. Although consumers are attracted in private - domain scenarios such as WeChat and communities, the final order - placing action still occurs in the Taobao store.

As long as the order is placed in the main business, users automatically become new customers of the brand. Evaluations, after - sales, and the membership system will continue to operate within the store, and consumers will be naturally included in the brand's next - round reach link.

Tairanisi was one of the first brands to try this. During Tairanisi's Tmall Super Brand Day event in August this year, through the mother - and - baby channel of Special Sale Benefit, with about 50,000 promoters, it drove a transaction volume of over 70 million. More importantly, most of them (nearly 90%) were new customers who the store had never reached in the past year.

That is to say, these users would not have entered the brand's flagship store originally, but through Special Sale Benefit, they entered the brand system as an opportunity for clearance. For industries with high repurchase rates such as mother - and - baby products and cosmetics, the long - term value of these new customers is often much higher than the clearance itself.

If we abstract the traditional clearance path into a link, its logic has always been: products → external channels → clearance → relationship broken.

Every step of this link occurs outside the brand's operation system. Therefore, the more inventory there is, the more severe the fragmentation; the faster the clearance, the faster the backfire. Brands can only repeatedly weigh between efficiency and safety and cannot truly regard clearance as part of their operation.

The logic of Special Sale Benefit is: products → private - domain promotion → Taobao transaction → customer flow - back → operation extension. It brings the "inventory" back into the store's operation system and reconnects the previously fragmented links.

Strictly speaking, this link is not only applicable to the seasonal leftover inventory but also to some brands' long - term needs, such as the "small - size customized products" commonly seen in the cosmetics, mother - and - baby products, and food industries, the experimental inventory of sub - brands, and the channel - exclusive products. These products that used to be scattered in various channels can now be centrally processed in a relatively safe and rhythm - unified scenario, forming a predictable increment and becoming an operational channel that brands can use repeatedly.

03. A Compulsory Course for the Future of E - commerce

More importantly, Special Sale Benefit does not require merchants to make additional resource investments.

In today's e - commerce operation, the cost for a brand to find a new channel is often higher than clearing a batch of inventory.

If an external channel is used to handle inventory, the entire link almost has to be rebuilt from scratch: a new product - listing system, a new team, customer service and after - sales maintenance, and fulfillment connection, and it also has to follow the channel's scheduling rhythm. The cumulative hidden costs are quite high.

The emergence of Special Sale Benefit allows inventory to be digested within the original system. For merchants, the required actions are compressed to the three most core things: inventory checking, pricing, and shipping.

Actions such as user reach, content creation, private - domain promotion, and traffic scheduling, which are time - consuming and costly, are all taken over by Special Sale Benefit. The actual transactions, after - sales, and fulfillment still occur within the original Taotian system, which means that brands no longer have to bear the resource investment of "opening a second store."

In addition, some merchants have revealed to 36Kr that Tmall will offer certain preferential policies to merchants participating in Special Sale Benefit. This is even more crucial for categories operating on a low - profit model. By reducing the cost structure, clearance can truly become part of the operation rather than a burden outside of it.

Of course, this is not a business that anyone can participate in at will. According to the recruitment materials circulated in the industry, Special Sale Benefit adopts a "one - brand - per - day" mechanism, with only about 30 public spots available per month. This means that it is not an inventory processor with unlimited capacity but more like an operation field with a fixed rhythm and limited spots.

It cannot be denied that the e - commerce environment has indeed become more fragmented. Traffic is scattered, users' time is fragmented, and content entry points are diversified. Consumers are no longer "captured centrally" by the main platform but make consumption decisions through dozens of fragmented touchpoints throughout the day.

Translated into business language, it means that the difficulty of brand operation is rising rapidly. Public - domain traffic is no longer as concentrated as before, the explosion window for new products is shorter, and daily regular sales increasingly rely on external node stimulation... These are all well - known pain points.

In such an environment, a scenario that can be "instantly triggered and closed - loop within the system" has become increasingly important. The value provided by Special Sale Benefit is actually a controllable short - cycle operation window and an immediate explosion for the brand's inventory scenario.

The advantages of concentrated explosion, short - term realization, bringing back new customers, and maintaining system stability bring brands an opportunity to create small - scale certainty outside the public domain.

In the long run, inventory management may no longer be just an "end - stage action" to recover some costs but a course that every merchant must complete.

And this "compulsory course" will not end with the conclusion of the major promotion. Instead, with the accelerating consumption rhythm, it will further become an unavoidable norm in the brand's annual operation in the future.