Americans Are Shopping More on Nov. 11, But Don't Call It Singles Day

Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba completed its 13th annual Singles Day celebration on Nov. 11 with 540.3 billion yuan ($85 billion) in what it calls gross merchandise volume over 11 days. Since 2019—when it sold $38.4 billion in 24 hours—the online retailer has extended the sale to an 11-day period. Last year, Alibaba sold $75.1 billion over that time, including about $19 billion in 23.5 hours on Singles Day itself. This complicates any year-to-year comparisons. Or, as Connie Ho, head of strategy at R/GA Shanghai, put it, “11.11 sales figures are commonly being selectively presented or are largely inflated.” Nevertheless, Singles Day has long enjoyed its perch as the biggest shopping day in the world, easily beating U.S. records for Black Friday ($9 billion) and Cyber Monday ($10.8 billion) many times over. Not a big marketing moment Meanwhile, despite consumers shopping earlier than ever before, Singles Day remains a niche concept in the U.S. Research from management consulting firm McKinsey found 45% of U.S. consumers had started their holiday shopping in early October this year—and more than 30% said they have completed the bulk of it. But shopping network Demand.io found only 86 active promo codes related to Singles Day out of more than 3 million offers across 77,000 U.S. ecommerce sites via its coupon browser extension. That potentially includes sites like Brooklinen and brands like Reebok, which were among the few Adweek found with Singles Day-specific offers. Ecommerce platform Saks went as far as hosting a Singles Day livestream. But, for the most part, U.S. retailers and ecommerce platforms tend to ignore this moment. Early Black Friday According to Jay Choyce Tibbitts, social strategist at Deutsch New York, most of the retailers with Singles Day promotions likely have a large audience of Chinese consumers already. “While Singles Day is slowly becoming more known in the States, it likely will never have the cultural cachet here in America,” he said. That’s in part because American shoppers already have multiple shopping holidays, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. “Singles Day is also a holiday invented by a corporation, Alibaba, which isn’t a prominent player in the States,” Tibbitts added. And, as Demand.io content head Sam Greenspan pointed out, Black Friday sales began earlier than ever before this year. Indeed, Amazon began offering Black Friday deals on Oct. 4 and, two weeks later, Walmart announced its month-long Black Friday Deals for Days promotion. “Stores in the U.S. are fully focused on early Black Friday rather than a less popular and lesser-known shopping holiday mere days before early Black Friday season begins in earnest,” Greenspan added. Prime Day and Veterans Day What’s more, Amazon has already satiated Americans’ appetite for an independent shopping holiday with Prime Day. This is especially true because so many other retailers—over 300 at last count—now piggyback on the moment, Greenspan added. In addition, Nov. 11 is already a U.S. holiday: Veterans Day. And so brands either want to avoid the moment out of fear of being disrespectful, or they simply offer a Veterans Day sale. Mara Greenwald, managing director of Shop+, a Mindshare unit focused on retail and ecommerce media, said she has seen the number of Veterans Day sales rise in part as U.S. retailers attempt to capture the attention of holiday shoppers early. Dealmoon Wilson Zhao, senior specialist at Gartner, agreed Singles Day’s proximity to Black Friday limits its appeal in the U.S., but conceded, “If brands want to build their name and drive a bit more sales through the Chinese community in the U.S., Singles Day will be a great opportunity.” In fact, Dealmoon, which calls itself a “social shopping community for Chinese expats around the world,” is a popular brand partner for Singles Day promotions. According to Zhao, that list includes Armani Beauty, Clinique, Estee Lauder, Samsonite and Nutribullet. “Chinese—especially students—are very familiar with Singles Day and will inevitably see many posts and news about it on social media,” he added. “They could feel a bit left out as they are not in China… so brands that host Singles Day promotions in the U.S. could actually capture that interest and fill the void.” The fever pitch cools That being said, even Singles Day in China was a bit understated this year. Gone were global superstars like Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey, who have made appearances in recent years—although actor Benedict Cumberbatch was slated to make a surprise (virtual) appearance at the countdown gala. The New York Times attributed Alibaba’s muted tone in part to the $2.8 billion fine it received from Chinese regulators earlier this year for anticompetitive practices. The Times noted the platform also focused more on eco-friendly products and delivery this year rather than conspicuous consumption. But Ho also noted consumers in China see major marketing moments almost every other month now—in addition to 11.11, the list also includes 5.20, 6.18, 8.18, 9.29 and 12.12. “As a result, consumers’ anticipation for Singles Day has cooled down as they start to realize good deals are no longer exclusively available on that one single day, but are spread across the year,” she added. It’s the Longest Holiday Shopping Season Ever. Can Brands Beat Music Fatigue?