November 11 is Veterans Day in the U.S., but some American brands are also marking the date as Singles’ Day, an unofficial Chinese shopping holiday that now generates more sales than Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, Forbes reports.
These 11/11 sales are popping up everywhere. Activewear brand Alo Yoga brought back its Singles’ Day sale this week, offering 30% off sitewide to members of its free ALO Access program. Beauty brand Tarte Cosmetics promoted “Singles’ Day Steals,” offering some of their most popular products for $11. In both cases, American marketers are joining a shopping holiday that started in China.
From a Student Joke to a Global Sales Event
Singles’ Day began in 1993, when four students at Nanjing University named November 11 (11.11) as a day to celebrate being single, Forbes reported.
Alibaba turned the date into a retail event in 2009, with just 27 merchants on its Tmall platform. The festival, also called Double 11, now runs for weeks across rival platforms.
Last year's festival ran for weeks, and generated around $238 billion in sales across China's major shopping platforms, according to Chinese data provider Syntun, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. Brands Have Been Testing the Date for Years
The idea isn’t brand new in the U.S. In recent years, Uniqlo, J. Crew, and Neiman Marcus all ran 11.11 sales or campaigns for American shoppers. By 2022, the list had grown to include Levi’s, Fresh, Urban Outfitters, and Alo Yoga, which offered up to 70% off sitewide, according to Modern Retail.
For U.S. brands, the date fills a gap before Black Friday. In a 2022 Gartner study, 48% of U.S. consumers said they planned to shop for gifts in October and November, compared with 9% in December, according to Modern Retail. Brands also use the day to test demand.
The bigger question is whether Singles’ Day can become a fixture of the U.S. holiday shopping calendar. As more American brands embrace the November 11 date, its growth will depend on whether shoppers come to recognize it as more than another excuse for a sale.
Ade Akin covers artificial intelligence, workplace wellness, HR trends, and digital health solutions.
(Photo by Rneaw/iStock)
