Year-end promotions brought forward

Chinese enterprises expanding into overseas markets are kicking off their year-end promotional campaigns earlier than usual and placing greater emphasis on long-term brand equity, advertising executives said.

Faced with intensifying global competition and more deliberate consumer spending patterns, Chinese cross-border brands are treating the year-end shopping bonanza not merely as a clearance event, but as a critical window to establish lasting brand loyalty and consumer trust.

"Chinese brands have brought forward their operational and marketing preparations by at least two weeks," said Ashley Wu, senior director of business development for China at The Trade Desk, a California-based global advertising technology company.

Wu said market research conducted earlier this year indicated that global consumers were also planning to do their holiday shopping one to two weeks earlier than normal. "Consumers are spending more time researching, cross-checking products and weighing value before making purchasing decisions. It is important for brands to engage them earlier in the decision-making process," she said.

The shift comes amid steady momentum in China's foreign trade. In the first nine months of 2026, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached an estimated 2.18 trillion yuan ($327 billion), up 4.4 percent year-on-year, with exports expanding 4.6 percent to 1.75 trillion yuan, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Yet, as the sector matures, simple price discounting is yielding diminishing returns.

"Almost every merchant rolls out aggressive promotions during the Christmas shopping season, so discounts alone are no longer enough to make a brand stand out," said Lauren Ye, client partner lead of China outbound business for Spotify Ads at digital advertising partner Aleph.

Ye said Chinese companies need to weave their brand narratives into the everyday lifestyles of local consumers, from their media habits and holiday traditions to leisure destinations.

Some Chinese companies are changing how they organize and assess their overseas marketing, assigning separate teams and budgets to short-term performance marketing and long-term brand building, Ye said.

"Rather than applying the same short-term return on investment measures to both, companies can assess brand campaigns by tracking sustained gains in consumer awareness, brand perceptions and long-term purchase intent," Ye said.

Wu echoed this view, warning that while conversion-driven ads deliver immediate revenue, relying exclusively on them risks exhausting target audiences and driving up customer acquisition costs. "Cultivating broad-based brand recognition lays the groundwork for sustainable, future sales," she said.

Bridging the gap between competitive pricing and brand trust remains the primary hurdle for Chinese products abroad. A consumer electronics survey conducted by The Trade Desk and research firm Appinio revealed that while Chinese brands matched foreign benchmark competitors in perceived value for money, more than half of the respondents remained neutral on their trustworthiness. Furthermore, the surveyed Chinese brands collectively accounted for less than 5 percent of consumers' first-choice selections.

To counter this perception, some Chinese companies are adopting, combining retail footprint expansion with high-visibility localized branding.

Dreame Technology, a Chinese home-robotics and smart-appliance maker, has expanded its distribution through Target.com and Target stores in the United States, built a regional headquarters in Los Angeles and launched retail stores across Southern California.

"We're investing in this market for the long term," Ana Wang, head of Dreame's North American business, said in the announcement.

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence is also reshaping consumers behavior, adding another layer of complexity. A joint study by The Trade Desk Intelligence and PA Consulting found that 77 percent of US consumers expected to use AI tools more frequently for product searches, while 95 percent of respondents said they would verify AI-generated recommendations.

Wu noted that while AI can help bring emerging Chinese products to consumer attention faster, it also accelerates the process by which shoppers compare, scrutinize and eliminate brands.