Someone drops a Pinduoduo screenshot into the team chat. The product looks familiar. The price is uncomfortable.
By the afternoon, there is a proposal for a bigger voucher across the entire store.
That is an expensive way to avoid deciding which products are actually under threat.
PDD’s arrival in more shoppers’ consideration sets deserves attention. In Malaysia, reporting describes frequent social advertisements, low-priced purchases and shoppers willing to wait weeks for non-urgent goods. The same interviews show buyers choosing local sellers when they need something quickly. Malay Mail, August 2026
Those customers are making different decisions. A storewide discount charges your business for treating them as identical.
Consider a simplified example. These are hypothetical numbers, not Atsell client results or published marketplace fee rates. GST is excluded throughout; fees are illustrative percentage-based charges, and the other costs are held constant.
| Per order | Before discount | After a 10% discount |
|---|---|---|
| Selling price | S$40.00 | S$36.00 |
| Product cost | S$16.00 | S$16.00 |
| Platform and payment fees, assumed at 15% | S$6.00 | S$5.40 |
| Advertising cost | S$6.00 | S$6.00 |
| Fulfilment and expected returns | S$4.00 | S$4.00 |
| Contribution before overhead | S$8.00 | S$4.60 |
The customer saves S$4. Your contribution per order falls 42.5%.
You now need roughly 74% more orders to generate the same total contribution, assuming the cost structure holds. If acquiring the extra orders becomes more expensive, the required increase gets larger.
A sales dashboard can make this look like progress for quite a while.
10% off the price.
42.5% off the contribution.
Contribution per order, before overhead. Same scale, starting at zero.
PDD Holdings has considerable resources behind its platforms. It reported RMB29.7 billion in group sales and marketing expenses in the second quarter of 2026. That figure covers the group; it does not reveal how much was spent on Pinduoduo in Singapore or Malaysia. PDD Holdings’ Q2 filing
Your brand needs its own spending limit, based on what an order is worth. A competitor’s advertised price is a poor substitute for that calculation.
Before the next campaign, give each important product a job.
| Product situation | Brand response |
|---|---|
| Easily compared, frequently searched, still profitable at a sharper price | Test a targeted price or voucher with a defined contribution floor. |
| Needed urgently, with reliable local stock | Put the achievable delivery date in the offer and support it operationally. |
| Requires fitting, installation, advice or dependable warranty support | Explain the service precisely and show evidence that it is delivered. |
| Interchangeable product with weak margins and little repeat value | Change sourcing or the offer; consider reducing spend and exiting the SKU. |
A useful bundle can also change the purchase. A compatible accessory, installation or a sensible replenishment pack may solve a real need. Adding unwanted stock to make price comparison harder is unlikely to build repeat business.
The next step is a controlled test. Choose a small group of exposed products and record their current traffic, conversion, contribution and returns. Change one commercial element, such as the voucher or bundle, and compare performance against a similar unchanged group where practical.
Keep campaign timing in view. Comparing a normal week with 9.9 will tell you little about whether the new offer worked.
Decide the stop condition before launch. If contribution per order falls below the amount your business needs, pause the offer. If the test relies on repeat purchases, measure those purchases within a defined period rather than assuming loyalty will eventually cover the loss.
There is another response brands should resist: quietly weakening the product to meet the new price. Cheaper materials or reduced quality control can damage the customers who already trust you. A clearly specified entry-level version is easier to defend than an unexplained downgrade.
Our view at Atsell is straightforward: some products deserve an aggressive price response, and some should be allowed to lose the cheapest buyer. The work is deciding which is which, then making the store reflect that decision.
Before approving another blanket voucher, ask your team for contribution after advertising, fees, fulfilment and returns by SKU. If that sheet does not exist, build it before changing the prices.