Singles Day 11.11 the biggest shopping event in the world

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What is singles Day?

To cut straight to the chase, " singles day" is precisely that a celebration of singledom. Many people are single. Some by choice and some by virtue that they are still searching for a mate. There used to be a negative social stigma associated with single hood, especially when folks started to couple up. For singles in party mode, what better way to treat yourself than to splash out and buy yourself a gift.


This shopping festival is also known as the "Double Eleven," the name originates from the calendar date November 11, the four ones of 11/11 signifying being single.

Never heard of it until today I must have been hiding under a rock.

Legend has it that it originated back in 1993 at Nanjing University in China's Jiangsu province. Four single guys sick of the monotony of a single life decided to have a party. From memory back in those younger days, any excuse for a party was a good reason.

Back in 2009, Alibaba, the retail giant, decided to join the party, and since then, it has turned into a shopping extravaganza where singles splash out on gifts for themselves. It lasts for 24 four hours and every year sales eclipse the preceding year.


This year was kicked off in grand style with a concert by Taylor Swift, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Monday said sales for its annual Singles' Day shopping blitz hit 158.31 billion yuan ($22.63 billion) in its first nine hours, up 25% from the same point last year.

You just read right 22.63 billion in the first nine hours observers are predicting total sales could exceed 40 billion in 24 hours.

As we all know in the eCommerce space, those sales promotions have that habit of extending, so that figure could be more. It is rapidly growing to become the world's biggest online sales event.

Mind-boggling figures.

Sales hit $1 billion in the first minute and twenty-five seconds.

Spare a thought for the payment processors and mail delivery folks.

Singles' Day in 2018 resulted in 710 million payments and 467 million parcels being dispatched.

That is spectacular

Do you hear the marketing bells ringing out?

Worthwhile checking out?

There are so many days of celebration that have evolved into shopping blitzes. Online promotions and shopping are gaining in popularity and experiencing exponential growth. For marketers, it can be ideal to be up with the play. I was reflecting today with online marketing. We are living in a border less world; we should be looking at the opportunities that are out there.

What are your favorite selling and buying extravaganza?

A deal is a deal, and they always spike the curiosity no matter what side of the fence you are on. Here in WA, there is the Wealthy Affiliate Black Friday promotion coming up. An opportunity, either to get a bargain or to promote an opportunity.

It is not too late to join the party, so best wishes to everyone.

Alex Evans

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Recent Comments

42

Yes, Jack Ma most certainly knows how to create something out of nothing...Capitalism maybe, but tapping into people's need to get some sort of good feeling about themselves (shopping does this, even online)...

Kind of like the Pre-Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, 12 (or so) Days of Christmas, Pre-Christmas, Christmas, Post- Christmas, End of Year Sale, New Year Sale, etc...

I am focusing on 5 sales this year between now and the first week of the New Year...There are a number of target audiences I am going after, both on the social platforms and offline (businesses)...

It is going to be fun to see just what is working best...A western version of the out of the air created "single's day" that Jack came up with (I believe it was him - in any case, he is the one that has learned to leverage it best)...Why not?

When I met Jack Ma he was an up and comer dude that had a startup in Hangzhou, China (where he was a college professor)...A really nice guy with a brilliant mind, I knew he was going places...

Anyway...

Wanna be single for a day? Even if you wish you were, buy from me and you will feel better pretending you are...If you don't want to be single, stop by anyway, have I got a deal for you!

Cheers!
Dave : )

Hi Dave, looks like you are well placed to create some good sales over the selling season.

Best wishes, keep us updated.

Jack Ma, what can you say, about the man.

He has just walked away from the juggernaut that he created, to start a new life and new projects.

What!

I really like your close out, the opportunities are out there we just need to have our marketing eyes on.

Alex

I met Jack when he had started the main Alibaba site for wholesale companies...

This was quite a few years ago now. I was doing a consulting project with Perdue a major poultry company in the US...

They operated a sales office there and sold tons (literally) of chicken feet into China...

I also had our own business operating out of Shanghai so was lucky to be able to spend a lot of time there in China...

Jack was a very personable leader, and the friend I had at the time was one of the original group that started it all...

She's a multimillionaire now and I'm a hack hehe... It was a wonderful time though and I'll never regret or forget it...

Bringing it all back to today's environment, the opportunities are out there in abundance for us all...

Most certainly the online world of sales growth run is not over... We are in a sweet spot that just keeps getting sweeter...

Most certainly also after the new year I'll post a wrap up... It's getting crazy and I love it! Kinda busy...

Cheers!
Dave :)

That is amazing Dave thanks for sharing your experiences, much appreciated.

I love to be single for a day! Just for the heck of it! No, I love being a family man!

Classic, if we are honest 99.9 % of people in a relationship, would have that desire from time to time.

Going back to those times, when all we had to think about was ourselves.

Times change.

There is something about it, deep down we all yearn for the same things.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Alex

It's always been funny to me--the gimmick of creating a special day for certain groups, and suddenly BOOM--massive sails. It's so simplistic. Look at Valentine's day for instant!

Jeff

There is just about a celebration day for just about everything we can think of.

Me too.

Hi Jeff, A lot of stuff flys under my radar, coming across this event, has made me aware of the scale of this online industry that we are involved in.

So even a little piece of the pie will be more than enough.

Valentine's day is a classic example, where buyers and marketers come together.

Alex

Thanks for bring-on that new awareness, Alex. I'd be surprised world-wide if there was a single day that hadn't been confiscated for commemoration or marketing purposes!

Jeff

So true Jeff, Christmas was the big one, now like you say it is any day.

Alex

Hi Alex! Thank you for info. Very helpful message for me!

Hi Florentino, you are most welcome, it has fired my imagination as well.

The content well has been replenished.

Alex

The online store platform in my country joins in the 11.11 sale as well with lotsa of promotion, discounts and vouchers to be used. Sadly, I also joined in the shopping frenzy 😂 Here the sales volume is not as high as Alibaba. As of now, 20hrs after the start of sale, there’s about 2.5 million products sold in just one platform.. 😱

Hey Alston, thank you for chiming in, we are all looking for bargins no matter where we live in the world.

Really curious, where do you reside, online selling seems to be developing a borderless flavor.

Thank you for the update.

Alex

I’m in Malaysia 😅

Well Alex, I’ve been under the same rock and didn’t see you! Great post and wow!, great information.
Joe

Hi Joe, it has stoked my bonfire, you make a great point.

We think that we are aware, and as marketers we think we are more aware than most.

Sitting on top of my little rock the realization dawns , we are only scratching the surface at best.

Alex

So true Alex
Joe

Wow those figures are incredible! I had not heard of Singles Day before today either :-0 I literally just opened a 'singles day' promo email right before your post email - so now I know ;-)

Hi Lisa, they are certainly are sit up and take notice figures.

The event is massive.

You receiving that promotional email whispers the reach and opportunity for marketers is growing a well.

Food for thought.

Thank you for sharing.

Alex

Every reason to shop. If your niche is physical products, this is great opportunity.

So true Stanley, for every shopping opportunity there are more than a few marketing opportunities.

Alex

Looks like there was room under that rock for two Alex, I was not aware either. Big numbers.

I know, the numbers are on another scale altogether. You kind of think this industry is big.

The reality is that it is massive.

And it is global.

We are right in the thick of it Twack.



Alex

Hi Alexander , Thanks for this interesting information. I haven't heard before about this event.
Have a nice day
Alketa

Hi Alketa,

I have not heard of it before, it certainly fires the imagination though.

You too enjoy your day and achieve heaps.

Alex

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