Singles Day is one of the biggest online shopping celebrations that cannot be missed. Singles Day, happening November 11th, has massive revenue potential for merchants—sales on Singles’ Day last year for Alibaba alone totaled $9.3 billion, up from $5.8 billion the previous year. The total from all online purchases last year exceeded $14 billion dollars, with the first $1 billion in sales occurring within the first 8 minutes the day began. Alibaba’s sales this year are expected to reach $13.7 billion alone. By comparison, Americans are projected to spend $5.7 billion online on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
“It’s a Chinese shopping frenzy that’s much bigger than Black Friday,” said Carla Galvan, Senior Marketing Manager at 55haitao.com and MiFanLi.com. “With now record-breaking online sales this is a shopping festival that U.S. merchants should absolutely not pass up.”
Single or not, Chinese and Chinese-American shoppers will be taking advantage of 11/11 and purchasing gifts for friends, family, and also treating themselves as well. Similar to the strategies that giant U.S.-based retailers like Walmart and Best Buy have adopted in recent years for Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, Alibaba began rolling out Singles Day deals and promotions early. Two weeks ago they began pushing one-off deals and other sales events in anticipation of this massive marketing event.
“Singles Day has become one of our top 10 traffic days, with only the weeks of Black Friday & Cyber Monday having higher amounts of visitors,” said Nathan Fenster, Director of Strategic Partnerships at DealMoon.com.
“Singles Day is a great way to vet offers for Black Friday & Cyber Monday, or to increase sales in the first half of November, where there aren’t any other major shopping holidays present. Dealmoon is having a Single’s Day Event from 11/5 – 11/15, and will focus a ton of marketing resources and exposure on this huge event,” Fenster said.
A Few Chinese University Students Created The Largest Online Shopping Event Of The Year
What began as an inside-joke between Chinese university students who didn’t have significant others has turned into the world’s biggest online shopping day.
“Singles Day, also known as “the bare sticks holiday” is a festival widespread among young Chinese people—to celebrate the fact that they are proud of being single. More and more global merchants are providing exclusive offers or planning joint partnerships with websites focused on the giant Chinese market,” said Ingrid Wen, Director of International Business Development at SMZDM, one of China’s largest affiliate websites. “We work with all merchants, based in China and worldwide, and hope more U.S. merchants will join in on this massive sales campaign.”
How Do U.S.-Based Retailers Get Involved In Singles Day?
Alibaba is now remarketing Singles Day the “11/11 Global Shopping Festival.” American retailers generally start planning for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in June or July, but if they’re ignoring Singles Day, they’re missing out on a huge amount of potential revenue. If U.S.-based retailers don’t have a physical presence in China, have Chinese translated websites, or even ship internationally that does not mean they can’t get in on the Singles Day gold rush.
Having a robust and well-managed Affiliate Marketing Program is the best way for brands that don’t have a presence in China to cash in on the increasingly profitable Asian market. Many Chinese publishers promote U.S. brands that aren’t based in Asia by translating their sales events and products onsite. This gives exposure to regional brands with no Asian presence, and they also offer freight-forwarding services that allow shoppers in China to buy significant amounts of foreign products and have their orders bundled and shipped by these specialized logistics companies.
Admittedly, navigating the unique nuances of a completely foreign market and international shipping can seem overwhelming. But, it is an opportunity not to be missed. And that is why we are here to help.
For more information on how to gain a larger international presence for your brand, contact the Affiliate Marketing ninjas at Blue Moon Digital to learn how your company can easily tap into global markets that are being ignored by your competitors.
