On 8 January, Taobao, the leading Chinese e-commerce platform, announced that it would introduce a gifting function. Users can buy from certain stores and gift the item to another person, such as family or friends. Taobao has also enabled personalised messaging for the gift. A virtual gift box will be sent to the recipient so they can complete their delivery address and contact details before the actual item is shipped. Users can use third-party messaging apps such as WeChat and DingTalk to send out the virtual invite.
But Taobao is not the first to introduce such features ahead of the Chinese New Year gifting season. In fact, many major platforms have been launching similar functions this winter, including JD.com who has announced its intention of offering gift options for this CNY. Some people also pointed out that Douyin, the Chinese sister app of TikTok also has a gifting function. However, it is closer to shipping group-bought orders to a certain address, which was introduced during the CNY period in 2024, as well as red envelopes that can include physical items.
Some pundits have seen this as a prompt to rush into launching gifting options as part of a continued battle following the introduction of red envelope features in 2014. Tencent’s WeChat seems to be the winner of the war over money-gifting functions, partly due to its user base of 1 billion. However, WeChat is also one of the first platforms to launch the gifting option. WeChat introduced the function in Weidian, the platform’s social commerce corner, before Christmas last year, called the “Blue Packet” after its successful Red Packet function. The move was widely seen as Tencent’s attempt to boost its e-commerce performance. In fact, merchants such as the leading coffee chain Luckin have also begun to explore the possibilities of gifting.
With the conventional gifting market struggling since last year, virtual gifting on e-commerce platforms has become something that merchants need and consumers find innovative. Whether it will reach the cultural importance of changing the way people interact online like the Red Packet from 11 years ago remains to be seen.
