36Kr reports that the 2026 Double 11 festival, running 30 to 40 days from mid-October to mid-November, marks a fundamental break with past beauty promotions: brands now prize profit quality over revenue scale. The outlet highlights Marubi Biotechnology's Q4 2025 result — its highest-revenue quarter of the year with the lowest profit — and Shanghai Jahwa's only loss-making quarter, a 138 million yuan loss with a 52.3% sales expense ratio. Sun Huaiqing, chairman of Marubi, said the brand now actively reduces unprofitable channels even if scale shrinks.

According to 36Kr, the surprise is how platforms and consumers have closed off the old tactics. Douyin keeps 'direct price reduction for one item' plus a 15% official discount, and JD now compares prices to users' actual historical payment, so raising prices before discounts no longer works. 36Kr notes consumers using AI models like Doubao and DeepSeek can instantly spot pricing tricks. WeChat Mini Shop joins Double 11 for the first time as a full operation position, and platforms shift subsidies from 'flood irrigation' to 'precise drip irrigation' — tiered support for smaller merchants who, like operator Handm&H's vice president Tian Liming warned, can otherwise be mere 'accompanying runners.'

WWD's interview with S'Young International CEO Marshall Chen offers the strategic evidence behind the pivot. Chen argues price wars exist only in single-capability competition, and describes his 'Five Fingers Branding Pattern' spanning brand, product, marketing, channel and operation — making brands 'more worth buying' rather than cheaper. WWD cites Kiko Milano's powder franchise, built over eight years and now with hero SKUs consistently ranking among Tmall's top three, and DS Laboratories reaching second position in TikTok's haircare category. Estée Lauder's CEO said the Chinese mainland grew 9% organically in its fiscal 2026, per 36Kr's report of the earnings call.

Both outlets converge on the same stakes: China is no longer a market for short-term wins. WWD's Chen says short-term tactics are copied or overtaken within three to six months, leaving trust and positioning as the only defensible assets, while McKinsey figures cited by WWD project 6% category growth from 2024 to 2028 despite cautious spending. For Double 11 specifically, 36Kr points brands toward the '333 product structure' of hits, trends and nurtured products, unified full-channel price control, and emerging channels like instant retail and Taobao's 20-market global push — evidence that the winner of this festival will be whoever makes a hit last.