Singles’ Day 2020 – Did your brand miss out?

Whilst Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been keeping marketers busy, there is an even bigger event which may have been overlooked by many brands this year... and that's Singles' Day.

Singles' Day which takes place yearly on 11/11 officially marks the biggest global sale in the world. It generated a massive $74 billion in Gross Merchandise Volume between November 1st-11th this year alone - a 26% increase on the same time frame in 2019. 

This extravagant event originated in China as a way for single people to treat themselves to gifts at a reduced price. And they certainly know how to make an event of it - $3 billion of those sales came from direct sales within livestreams of product reviews and showcases with popular influencers (honestly the phenomenon around “shoppertainment” could be a blog all on its own). They didn’t even have to leave the stream to complete the purchase.

With Single's Day surpassing sales figures year-on-year, the western world has started taking notice, with brands like Nike, Starbucks, Apple and L’Oréal getting in on the action.

Top products sold during this event typically involve makeup, skincare, clothing, food supplements and home appliances; PPC marketers reading this will have noticed some parallels when looking at current UK lockdown search trends which made Singles’ Day a huge opportunity for some.

This event will only get bigger in the UK, so if you didn't act on it this year, it’s definitely something you should start thinking about for 2021 so that you don’t miss out again.

Regardless of how aligned you believe your brand is to an event like this, there are some key takeaway points which we can all learn from:

• Singles’ Day is on 11th November every year (keep it in your diary), so monitoring events like this will reveal insights which you can apply to your marketing approach.
• Knowing how to leverage livestreaming on relevant popular platforms can reap huge benefits; this is still largely overlooked and could give you the edge over competitors.
• Stay on top of where the short term demand is and get yourself prepared with the right promotions and adjustments to this demand.
• This year has been unlike any other and will set a precedent for future online habits; really get to know your consumers’ shopping habits and make sure you tailor their shopping experience to them (e.g. do they want click & collect? Are they using mobile? Is your important information accurate?).

And as always, if you’re looking for more information or support on how you can take advantage of the busiest shopping period of the year, download our Golden Quarter guide or contact our team of experts.