How Singles Day is a Global Phenomenon Beyond Alibaba and How It’s Coming to America

Brands have continued to overlook premier opportunities to engage with their customers. To date, the global phenomenon known as Singles’ Day remains underleveraged in the Western world. Singles’ Day is a massive shopping festival launched in China by e-commerce giant Alibaba. The event, taking place on November 11 and also referred to as “Double Eleven” or “11/11” was introduced and correspondingly named for bachelors, using the number “1” to denote a single man. Singles’ Day generated approximately $139 billion for Alibaba in 2021 over an 11-day sales period, representing an almost tenfold revenue increase since the 2009 inaugural event, and saw more than 250,000 brands participate. For reference, US retailers generated only $9 billion and $10.84 billion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, respectively. Singles’ Day revenue has consistently surpassed US Thanksgiving weekend sales since 2015.

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