Over the weekend, the record for the world’s largest retail event was broken as more than $US25 billion was spent during the online-shopping frenzy that is China’s Singles’ Day.
Single’s Day — explained simply — is an event organised by e-commerce site Alibaba during which singles in China celebrate being sans-partner by buying themselves gifts. Dubbed the anti-Valentine’s Day, on November 11 each year Chinese shoppers jump online to nab heavily discounted goods in an affair that puts Black Friday to shame.
The holiday is rumoured to have started in the 1990s when university students bought themselves presents in an anti-Valentines celebration. Fast-forward 20 years and Singles’ Day sees orders come in 175,000 per second with Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang describing it in 2015, saying: “Back in 2013, $US5.14 billion was our one-day GMV [Gross merchandise volume]. Now we can achieve it in one hour.”
However, Alibaba cannot be mistaken for the likes of Amazon as instead of providing a site that is a ‘one-stop-shop’, it provides a platform for stores to set up an online store and does not actually sell goods directly to customers. This method has even allowed luxury brands like Burberry and Guerlain to join in.
