The success of Singles’ Day!
Singles’ day
‘Singles day’ is an annual Chinese Shopping extravaganza that takes place on the 11th of the 11th. But now it is not only China’s biggest online shopping event, worldwide it is a day when millions in sales are sold through online shops.
Bachelor day
It originated in Chinese universities in the 1990s as a kind of protest against Valentine’s Day. It started in 1993 at Nanjing University where many students live on campus with a strong male-female distribution and thus many bachelors. The story goes that it originated with four male bachelors.
They were brainstorming how to break free from the negative stigma of being single. They also wanted to be able to change the one-sided image of “romantic holidays for being together. A day to celebrate being alone. Since the term “Bachelor” refers to the male variety, it quickly became “Singles’ Day.
It is a day of activities and parties, but already not just to celebrate “being single. Many events such as blind date shows are also organized to find a partner on Nov. 11.
Many Chinese media also pay attention to the effect of being single. These are both the positives and the negatives experienced with it (bored, lower self-esteem).
11.11
The date 11.11 was also chosen for this reason: the symbol, a stick, resembles the symbol for bachelor (gunzi/guangun). It symbolizes one person who adds no twig or stick to the family tree: the bachelor.
The 1 symbolizes the bachelor.
The 11 symbolizes two people meeting and being together on one side of the special date.
the 11.11 symbolizes two people meeting and being together on the other side of the date.
The activities organized in the process have become increasingly widespread, and with the emergence of social media, it has become a very familiar phenomenon in Chinese society and culture.
Online shopping mecca
In 2009, Singles Day was picked up by AliBaba as a 24-hour discount day and online entertainment. Competitors of AliBaba such as JD.com have also jumped on this, making Singles Day a rival to Black Friday, with a slightly stronger online emphasis.
Many luxury and tech products that contribute to a positive experience of a personal and independent lifestyle are then offered at a high discount.
From 2010, growth rates in total sales on Nov. 11 have been very strong. Chinese retail sales on Nov. 11, 2010 compared with 2009 is a 1700% growth. As of 2017, gr
ote global well-known stars such as Nicole Kidman, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift deployed at AliBaba’s shopping gala making its importance recognized and visible on a global scale.
Future of Singles Day?
It is a big party in Indonesia, in Germany it is promoted in stores by the Mediamarkt. In the United Kingdom, March 11 is an important day: “National Singles Day.
In Belgium and the Netherlands, the action date is increasingly common in communications, but does not yet have the status or scale of, say, Black Friday. It is also less focused on sec retail or sales and more on social events and gatherings.
Chinese chains logically want to make this holiday more and more prominent. The chains that have many customers abroad see a future in this, as well as the ever-growing demographic of singles, as Valentine’s Day is for couples.
This helps expand Singles Day worldwide, and it offers opportunities to make this “festival” increasingly common in the Netherlands.
So: we wish everyone a Happy Singles’ Day!
