Singles Day 2022 – A trend shift this year?

To consumers across China and South-East Asia, Singles Day (November 11th) is the biggest shopping season of the year.

It often starts already mid October with pre-sales and warm-up sales. Introducing to consumers in China and the rest of South-East Asia the deals they can expect this year. For brands, these pre-sales and warm-up sales periods are extremely important. As they can gauge how they are doing already early on in the Singles Day campaign period. A sales campaign period that was originally only one day and has extended to a sales festivity period of almost three weeks. With non-stop promotions and activities where all brands are trying to fight for the attention of the consumer.

How does Singles Day or differently called “Double 11” work?
Singles Day originated when Chinese students started celebrating “singlehood” on 11th of November in 1993. They choose November 11th because, when written as 11/11, it is only composed of ones.

It’s sort of like the anti-Day Valentine’s where single individuals can celebrate by giving gifts to each other. It evolved into a day to bid singlehood farewell throughout time. Surprisingly, Singles Day currently hosts more weddings than any other day of the year.

Why is Singles Day significant for online merchants?
Jack Ma, the founder and CEO of Alibaba in China, transformed Singles Day into a single day of shopping in 2009 under the name Double 11 Shopping Festival. He repeated it the next year since it was so well-liked, and a new custom of internet shopping was created.

The Singles Day buying craze has now moved beyond the borders of China. The majority of South-East Asians participate in the Singles Day discounts, and every year more and more European consumers do as well.

Additionally, Singles Day lasts for much longer than just one day. JD.com and Alibaba both began their Singles Day deals in the latter half of October, although all Singles Day sales stop at midnight on November 11.

Due to this, e-commerce merchants have a lot of opportunities on Singles Day. In 2020, Singles Day generated more revenue globally than Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and in 2021, Alibaba and JD.com combined to sell $139 billion worth of goods on Singles Day, setting a new record.

Here are 5 tips to to make the most of your Singles Day this year:

1. Enlarge your social media presence

Consumers search social media for reviews of the hottest goods, the best offers, and the most reliable brands. Consumers start their search for the best deals not just a few days before the 11th of November of are already researching weeks in advance and have made their short-list of brands they want to purchase from already a few weeks in advance of when the promotions start. Because before you know it the product you want to buy may be sold out! Develop a following on popular websites like Xiaohongshu and Douyin can help you catch the attention of the consumers so you can hit your commercial targets for the year. You should also urge clients to join your groups for exclusive discounts and early access to bargains since online chat groups are particularly well-liked in China.

2. Make sure you have enough inventory

During Singles Day, you don’t want to run out of the best-selling item. Track social media discussions about this year’s hottest products and analyze your assortment’s best-selling products of the 618 campaign and analyze how your assortment sales were during Double 11.

3. Start early!

The best brands already prepare months in advance of Singles day. Making sure they have replenished their stock, decided on GWP’s (Gift with Purchases) and have already locked in the cooperations with the right KOL or KOC for their brand.

4. Have replenishment stock ready.

There will always be products that sell better than expected and you will run out of stock. This happens to every brand. But the best brands and partners have strategies in place in order to replenish fast, change their promotion tactics and make sure that the revenue targets are achieved even though some SKUs are out of stock.

Need Support?

Do you need help with your Double 11 sales preparations or need a partner to run a successful campaign for you?

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