Singles’ Day is here and e-shoppers in China will be seen binging on what is touted as the world’s busiest online shopping day. Also known as anti-Valentine’s Day, the date 11.11 is special for those who are single.
E-commerce players have a tradition of enjoying a huge rally on the Singles’ Day shopping fervor. Last year, online sales hit $18 billion on Singles Day, triple the combined sales of $5.9 billion in U.S. on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving. This year too is expected to be no exception, with many market researchers predicting another record level of online purchases.
While several Chinese e-commerce platforms as well as bricks and mortar retailers participate in this online shopping festival, Alibaba (BABA – Free Report) continues to dominate. The Chinese e-commerce giant, which turned this day into the biggest 24-hour spending blitz worldwide eight years ago, is expected to fetch $23 billion this year given an increase of more than 60,000 global brands across its marketplaces. The company grossed a whopping $17.8 billion in sales last year, up from $14.3 billion in 2015.
Global brands such as Lululemon (LULU – Free Report) , Adidas, Bose, Gap (GPS – Free Report) , Mac Cosmetics, Nike, Procter & Gamble (PG – Free Report) , Macy’s (M – Free Report) and Zara are participating in the event with a presence on Alibaba’s Tmall platform. With an increase in the number of brands, Alibaba will offer more than 15 million products this year. Further, it has collaborated with roughly 50 shopping malls in China to set up pop-up shops on Nov 11, in 12 cities. According to the Fung Global Retail & Technology, apparel is the most popular category followed by household supplies, footwear and foot.
China’s second-largest e-commerce firm JD.com (JD – Free Report) has teamed up with Baidu (BIDU – Free Report) , Tencent Holdings (TCEHY – Free Report) and Walmart (WMT – Free Report) to boost online traffic for Singles’ Day sales this year and bring its offerings to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
