November 11

The grand finale of world's largest e-commerce shopping festival

China's Singles' Day (光棍节) or "Double 11" (双十一)

Singles' Day started off in 2009 as a one day event by 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗮 with only 27 merchants. Today it is world's largest e-commerce shopping event from November 1-11 with shows featuring celebrities, livestreamed performances, and hundreds of thousands of participating retailers ranging from small businesses to top designer brands. Though this year's event is much more low-key compared with previous years in terms of public shows, about 290,000 brands are participating and Alibaba (Tmall) expects over 900 million people being active during the event.

Market watchers view the annual event as a barometer of consumption power and trends. In 2020, Alibaba and rival platform JD recorded a reported total of $115 billion in transactions over the 11-day event season.

This year prior to the grand finale today (2021-11-11), 382 brands have reported a turnover of more than 100 million yuan (USD 15.6 million) on Tmall (Alibaba's e-commerce platform) during the first 10 days.

𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 are being noticed this year ; '𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁', '𝗚𝘂𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼', '𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻' and '𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆'.

For 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, the platforms prioritize environment-friendly products or provide vouchers for energy-efficient products, and for example transparently display new packaging recycling stations in their logistics. Environment-friendly and -conscious lifestyle is being promoted.

𝗚𝘂𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼 (国潮), literally 'national tide') is the ongoing popularity for new, hi-tech or nostalgic domestic brands, Chinese culture featured products and social, familiar recognition.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 or seniors 50-65 years are an increasingly powerful consumer group and e-commerce platforms adapt their services, interfaces and portfolios to this generation as well.

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 is a big development this year; “Goods for Good” is an Alibaba initiative during Singles' Day donating 1 yuan (about USD 0.16) every time consumers take to social media to share what they have purchased under the program, supporting “elderly citizens living in solitude, ‘left-behind children’ in remote areas and low-income workers.”

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