Singles Day is the newest shopping holiday to arrive in the US and falls on November 11. After exploding in popularity in China, people around the world are hyped to party, look for new relationships, and, of course, go shopping.
Naturally, retailers are responding to the increasing demand by creating new Singles Day events and sales. However, it takes time for any new event to take off – and good PR. You can spread the word about this coming celebration and get customers excited about it with an understanding of an effective marketing strategy.
Give an overview of Singles Day
As a reason to celebrate being single and counteract other holidays that were mainly targeted at people in relationships, Singles Day originated in China in the 1990s. Alibaba, an online retailer, transformed the day into one of the biggest shopping days of the year in 2009 by running a 24-hour shopping event.
China’s sales figures are increasing steadily, and in 2022, one of the biggest retailers for Singles’ Day, JD.com, claimed to have made record-breaking profits.
Singles Day has begun to expand outside of China as companies and consumers from all over the world have noticed the day’s success there.
The timing of the holiday caused questions for some analysts, but US consumers appear to be accepting it. Sales on Singles Day increased by 38% in the US in 2019 compared to the previous year. The number of US retailers making sales is probably going to continue rising.
How to market your business for Singles Day
Want to get in on the Singles Day action? You’ll need to prepare your inventory and your sales associates, get ready to educate your customers and give them deals to get excited for.
Here are our tips on getting started.
Understand your audience
Focus on your first tasks by determining who will be interested in your Singles Day sales.
The primary demographic for Singles Day is 20-somethings who aren’t in a relationship. To market to them, tailor messages to resonate with celebrating the fact that they’re singles, emphasizing self-gifting and self-care.
To reach potential customers close to your physical locations, think about developing and implementing some hyper-local location-based meta ads in addition to ads that direct traffic to your e-commerce site.
Advertisements for your physical locations can highlight your BOPIS options or your first-rate in-store service, while ads directing customers to your online store can highlight your fast shipping or both.
Get your logistics ready
The secret to success, as with any significant sales event, is to keep shelves stocked without carrying excess inventory. Make sure high-performing inventory is ordered and delivery arrangements are made about a month before the big day.
Think about automating some parts of the buying process with technology. For example, based on your recent sales trends, Lightspeed’s purchase orders can automatically run reports and suggest items that need restocking.
When Singles Day gives way to the holiday shopping season, that kind of data will help you keep your inventory optimized.
Set up special offers and discounts
Offer special offers and promotions to get customers to shop on Singles Day.
Take advantage of buy-one-get-one or bundle deals. The most attention is drawn to buy-one-get-one offers since, to many consumers, they are more obvious than percentage discounts. You could clear out inventory in time for the holidays and encourage customers to spend money by offering a tiered discount where the more you buy, the more you get.
Offer special offers to your most loyal customers as a way to thank them and persuade them to find out more about Singles Day.
Review your customer service
Given the close timing of Singles Day with the holiday shopping season, you can prepare for both occasions to save some time.
Apart from describing the reasoning behind the holiday, your managers should ensure that the training covers:
- When running your point of sale, make sure your system is easy to use.
- Returns: Ensure that the customers are comfortable with your return policy, regardless of whether it is unique for the holidays or the rest of the year. Can they check purchases in your POS or do they need a receipt? Must they see identification? How much time has been given for returns? How do they use your payment processor to process a refund?
- E-commerce: Do your staff handle the verification and processing of online orders? Verify that they understand how to close online orders when packages are picked up and what kind of packaging to use.
- Your inventory: If your sales staff are knowledgeable about the product, they will be able to close more deals. Supervisors should ensure that staff members are knowledgeable about your best-selling items and have access to a point of sale that allows quick access to inventory details.
- Your promotions: make sure sales associates working on Singles Day shifts are aware of exactly what customers are eligible for, as they will only be available for one day and probably differ from the ones you run during the holidays.
Take advantage of influencers and social media
Singles Day is a shopping occasion that could generate a lot of online excitement. Creating “gram-worthy displays and engaging unboxing experiences” makes customers happy. Engage with well-known influencers to leverage that energy to market your available products or services.
Make a deal with an influencer who has a following that is relevant to your business to promote the holiday; don’t forget to offer the influencer a customized discount that is exclusive to their audience.
Prioritize collaborating with local influencers near your store locations. You may invite them to participate in a TikTok or YouTube video documenting their Singles Day shopping spree.
Don’t forget to advertise the holiday on your personal social media accounts. Make interesting content that inspires comments, likes, and shares. Use bright, inspiring photos that make the audience want to spoil themselves and promote your sales to seal the deal.
Make your online store mobile-friendly
Did you know that up to 60% of all e-commerce transactions take place on mobile devices? And that in 2020, mobile devices will account for 80% of China’s Singles Day sales. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly for your business to have the best chance of success on Singles’ Day.
As a result, you’ll require a mobile-only layout that has:
- A user-friendly navigation system should have large enough buttons and links for easy taps.
- Quick loading times: potential consumers will leave your site in a matter of seconds.
- High-quality images: Ensure that the product imagery on your mobile layout is just as good as it is on your desktop website.
Think about providing special offers or promotions for mobile shoppers to encourage on-the-go shopping.
You can also benefit from showrooming, which is the practice of customers visiting a physical store to view a product to make an online purchase, by advertising your mobile-friendly website in your physical locations.
Put QR codes next to well-liked products that take visitors to the product page on your website so they can buy it immediately.
Use data to track trends and customize your messages
Analyze data to gain insight into consumer behavior. Examine sales trends by brand, category, and product to see what’s been trending recently and which best-sellers to feature in your window display.
Look at your data after Singles Day is over to see if there are any new sales trends you should take advantage of for the holidays.
Go one step further for your regulars. Based on previous purchases, provide individualized product recommendations or special offers. Use a marketing platform that is connected to your point of sale (POS) to save time and improve targeting.
Make shopping more entertaining
The process of including game elements—scores, gameplay, and possibly teams—into the retail experience is known as gamification. Customer acquisition can be increased by 700% through gamification.
To get users interested in your website or app, add games or interactive content. As compensation for playing the game, you can give out rewards like cash, savings, or loyalty points. Maybe some of the prizes could be exchanged after Singles Day to encourage customers to come back and finish their holiday shopping.
Highlight time-limited promotions
Singles Day is a brief holiday that falls on the day before the start of a new shopping season. You can use flash sales or limited-edition products during this one-time event to give customers a sense of urgency.
To encourage customers to make purchases more quickly, use countdown timers or alert them when stock is low. Encourage the use of next-day delivery services by offering quick shipping, free local delivery, or both. Limit flash sales to an hour or so, and publicize them on your social media pages.
You can use ShineTrust – Product Badges & Labels as a support tool to highlight your products and run a flash sale campaign with many easy-to-use features.
Collaborate with other businesses to arrange an event for Singles Day
Make it useful for them to spend time on Singles Day to entice new customers. Take part in partnerships with brands that go well together to provide special package discounts. You could partner with a health and beauty shop to sell self-care kits if you own a jewelry store.
For a wider audience, collaborative marketing campaigns are another option to think about. To make the trip to your store worthwhile, collaborate with a local influencer to market both your store and surrounding businesses.
Engage customers post-purchase after Singles Day
Ideally, Singles’ Day presents an opportunity for you to connect with potential customers or reach out to previous faithful. Now that you’ve overcome the challenge, you need to persuade them to return for upcoming sales, such as those around the holidays or perhaps even on Valentine’s Day.
To promote ongoing business, give loyalty points or post-purchase discounts. Create a campaign that consists of an email (or SMS, since SMS messages are frequently opened) and send it to all of your Singles Day customers for one day.
Additionally, you should take advantage of their favorable opinion as soon as possible. Sales representatives should interact with consumers on social media and seek out reviews and feedback. Incorporate a phone call or email to evaluate you in their emails verifying orders.
Requesting reviews as soon as possible serves to validate their favorable opinions and is a powerful marketing tool for your company. If it’s acceptable in your community, think about paying customers for reviews.
In Conclusion
In the West, Singles Day is becoming more and more popular. It can be a big source of additional revenue for your business.
It’s time to begin planning your marketing and sales plan for Singles Day.
