11.11 Alibaba Singles’ Day: A multi-billion banter
11th of November or frequently referred to as 11.11 is now an unwittingly recognised date for most shoppers in Southeast Asia and China. It was translated from a silly taunt 😂into today’s biggest global sale🌏.
Origins
The history is traced back to 1993 happened at Nanjing University of China. It was devised from 4 male students who discussed how they could break free from the Chinese society’s traditional insistence on coupling up. When the words of mouth swiftly spread across the community, the commercial businesses took upon this golden opportunity to promote their sales. Hence, the 11.11 is elucidated as 4 single individuals (IIII), and the day has been labelled as the Singles’ Day. It has been set as an occasion for singles to spend wholesome on themselves. The finest description, as mentioned on RADII, would be — a shopping day for the untethered💎.
Celebration by Alibaba Group
In 2009, the internet became widely available adjacent to the growth of smartphone and E-commerce. The impeccable framed 11.11 story has become a handy tool for the flourishing Alibaba Group at that time. They grasped the chance to capitalise on consumerist tendencies by hosting Singles’ Day sales and promotions on all of its e-commerce retailers such as Taobao — Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) platform and Tmall — Business-to-Consumer (B2C) platform.
3 years later, the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) generated from the Singles’ Day by merely Alibaba Group have surpassed both Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.
This year 2020, the pandemic has further accelerated the digital economy and Alibaba Group’s Singles’ Day achieved a sturdy $74.6 billion in GMV compared to Amazon’s Prime Day of $3.5 billion GMV. The calculation and period taken into account might differ, but it is almost a 20x difference between both events.
Deals 💵+ Entertainment👓
One alluring element of the Alibaba Group’s Singles’ Day would be the performance of top-tier international and local artists. Some of the promotions are unlocked at specific timing during the 24 hours shopping frenzy. To retain consumers’ attention and to be entertained at full length, they are able to view the live performance of the latest hit artists.
A handful of renowned names most would be familiar with, such as Daniel Craig, Mariah Carey, Maria Sharapova, Miranda Kerr, and Kobe Bryant, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Magic Johnson, had been invited for an appearance on the Singles’ Day. These acts and performances extend as a public invitation and reward those who participated in the 11.11 Gala.
The combo of deals and entertainment have proven to be a favourable model. Still, there is so much more that could be incorporated to produce a fully engaging shopping experience and encourage the public to spend more to be rewarded with the entertainment correspondingly.
Public Criticism
According to sources, the China state-owned news network CCTV recently called for “fewer tricks” by E-commerce platforms during the Singles’ Day. They stressed that the consumers should not be cheated on the shopping bonanza. The judgement of everything are on discount drives them to splurge without verifying the prices.
This action by the network signifies the on-going tensions between the Chinese government and some of the country’s biggest tech giants, such as Alibaba Group, Tencent, and Baidu.
On the next story, we will discuss
- Did you know that the E-commerce market in Southeast Asia (SEA) is looming and 11.11 is a big thing for SEA?
- Who is leading the E-commerce market in SEA?
- Does Alibaba Group have a counterpart in SEA?
Meanwhile -
To read on the reason behind China government’s move to halt Jack Ma’s Ant Group IPO”, you may read this informative piece from WSJ.
