Singles Day is a global ‘fire sale’ held on the 11th of the 11th every year. In 2022, shoppers worldwide spent £112bn on bargains – eclipsing events such as Black Friday. Brits alone splashed £1.97bn last year. With everyone strapped for cash, the home delivery expert ParcelHero says it’s perfectly timed for early-bird Christmas shoppers.
The world’s largest retail event, Singles Day, originated in China in 1993 and has now eclipsed sales such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day. Although initially slow to embrace it, canny UK shoppers are now welcoming the massive savings on offer, says the home delivery expert ParcelHero.
With money tighter than ever, Singles Day is ideally timed for early-bird Christmas bargain hunters. ParcelHero says we should expect a £2bn shopping spree this weekend as Brits double down on Singles Day.
ParcelHero’s Head of Consumer Research, David Jinks M.I.L.T., says: ‘Singles Day is supposedly the flip side of Valentine’s Day. It was created by lonesome Chinese single male university students in the 1990s to cheer themselves up by purchasing something nice. The date selected was 11/11, with the repeated number 1 symbolising solo living. By 2009, the event had become a global sales sensation, with people beginning to spend money not only on themselves but also buying presents early for Christmas.
‘ParcelHero’s latest research shows the Singles Day global spend was over $139bn (£112bn) last year, with the Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com winning the most sales. To put that into perspective, last year Black Friday made “only” $65.3bn (£53bn) worldwide.
‘There’s a feeling among some retailers that Brits have yet to fully embrace Singles Day. Perhaps that’s because it clashes uneasily with Remembrance Day celebrations here. However, in 2021 UK Singles Day sales reached £1.72bn and climbed to £1.97bn last year, according to the retail statistics expert Statista. With retail prices still high and inflation yet to fall enough to take the strain off our family finances, we are all in need of some pre-Christmas bargains. With that in mind, we believe Brits will embrace Singles Day and splash £2bn this Saturday.
‘Favourite UK retailers such as ASOS, M&S and Waitrose have held Singles Day sales on Alibaba’s Tmall site in recent years, with major UK brands such as Dyson, Burberry and Jaguar-Land Rover joining in the bonanza. UK stores River Island, New Look, Zavvi and Sports Direct have also offered Singles Day deals.
‘In 2021, ASOS in the UK held a snap 20% off everything sale, and the consumer site Vouchercodes is tipping a similar event his year. ASOS has admitted it is carrying too much stock currently, so it’s certainly possible we may see a similar event. Often, ASOS only announces its sales the night before on its social media channels, so it’s worth signing up to follow them.
‘Boohoo offered up to 25% off items last year and Pretty Little Things are also tipped to reveal some big Singles Day fashion savings. For tech shoppers, Samsung and Lenovo are also expected to be seizing the event.
‘One retailer certain to feature some great bargains is Alibaba. The China-Britain Business Council says Alibaba will be offering at least 17% off everything on its B2C marketplace TMall. UK shoppers who use AliExpress – the site which enables Brits to buy direct from Chinese traders – can’t have failed to notice the big banners counting down to 11/11, which the site says will offer the “best deals of the year”.
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