Singles Day is one of the largest sales days of the year that you may not be aware of. November 11th is the date, and sales of almost $139 billion were made globally last year.
Despite having its origins in Asia, this holiday is growing in popularity in the US, UK, and other Western nations. Since many American and European businesses began offering discounts on November 11th last year, you might want to consider planning an effective sales strategy for your eCommerce as this holiday comes near.
What Is Singles Day and How Was It Born?
Originally supposed to be a sort of anti-Valentine’s Day, Alibaba Group created it in the 1990s as a way to boost sales by encouraging single people to treat themselves to gifts.
The eleventh of November was chosen for the occasion because, as this date is written 11-11, it only understands the number one and accurately symbolizes singles.
As this day has become more and more well-known throughout time, individuals have begun to plan social events and dating get-togethers to locate soulmates. It has also become a very popular day for weddings.
Is Black Friday smaller than Singles Day?
Every year, Singles Day sales increased to an even greater extent than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. Alibaba’s gross sales for 2021 reached 84.54 billion US dollars, as seen in the Statista.com analysis report. Techcrunch estimated that global sales were 2.5 times higher than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined!
If online sales in the US hit a record $28.49 billion, Singles Day sales in 2020 will have produced more income than the five days of Black Friday week combined (Adobe Analytics). Black Friday alone brought in $7.2 billion in revenue, but Cyber Monday brought in $9.4 billion in digital purchases.
Two major companies control both the Asian and Western markets for sales: BFCM, owned by Amazon, and 11-11, owned by Alibaba Group. Both businesses made an effort to extend the sales window, and last year’s Amazon Prime Day, which unofficially kicked off BFCM week, raked in $10.4 billion in sales, up 45% from the year before.
Instead, Alibaba extended a promotional window from November 1 to November 3 of last year. According to Bloomberg, during the first 111 minutes of sales on November 1, Apple and Nike were among the 100 brands that generated roughly $15 million in sales. The first company to reach a billion yuan in sales on the Tmall marketplace was Esteé Lauder.
The success of Singles Day last year was greatly attributed to live-streaming sales, which saw participation from idols and well-known celebrities.
The Reasons For Your Attention To Singles Day
Although Singles Day originated as a Chinese holiday, more and more Western nations celebrate it each year. It is noteworthy to mention that many consumers in the US and the UK also spend money on Singles Days, in addition to the Chinese.
Sales of this new holiday are increasing quickly as more and more people in the US and Europe become aware of it, particularly in the US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, and France.
For example, Singles Day brought in over £1.44 billion in the UK and €900 million in France in 2020.
Singles Day works perfectly with the promotional-heavy holiday season, even though this year is special because of the pandemic speeding up the holiday shopping window.
This trend is here to stay, based on the rise in the number of brands using Singles Day messaging this year. It’s a chance to “treat yourself” before the pressure to buy gifts for others begins.
Live streaming could be the next big thing in commerce experiences as e-commerce grows in the United States. According to Coresight Research, live streaming in China is expected to generate $125 billion in revenue this year, up from $63 billion the previous year. Chinese consumers have been using their smartphones to shop during quarantine periods, which has resulted in an incredible increase.
By comparison, the live-streaming market in the United States is only estimated to be worth $5 billion. Large audiences and the underlying technology necessary for instantaneous transactions are requirements for live streaming to have any significant effect.
As a result, big tech companies like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are introducing new features to make it easier for users to purchase goods from videos. Amazon is a clear contender in this market, but it needs to have the social media appearance and influencer relationships necessary for content creation. As more recent competitors like Popshop Live and Ntwrk enter the competition, this is an area to keep an eye on, as there isn’t yet a clear winner.
You can livestream the following things:
- Countdown to a Singles’ Day sale
- An announcement of a new product or launch event
- An exclusive first look at a new Singles’ Day collection
- Q&A on Singles’ Day or a conversation about the content you’ve posted (such as posts, quizzes, videos, and infographics) to inspire comments from your fans
- Product reviews: get some items and show them to your customers. You can discuss the material and print quality, or even have a look at a few pieces.
This year, even more businesses are going to take advantage of Singles Day, as many brands did last year when they offered deals for November 11–11. Why don’t you attempt to get some of this market for your online store as well?
Pay Attention To The Past To Move Forward
As you have probably noticed, a lot of large brands constantly compete for market share on Black Friday by getting an early start to beat one another.
Why not use Singles Day in addition to the many pre-Black Friday or “Countdown to Black Friday” sales that have taken place in recent years?
With Black Friday and Christmas sales starting early, November 11th seems like the ideal time to start planning, especially since this “new” holiday is becoming more and more popular every year.
In Conclusion
Starting to include Singles Day in your promotional calendar this year and the following years to boost sales for your online stores.
