Since its launch in 2009, the Singles Day phenomenon has been growing steadily in China.
It is a set of campaigns (between 24/10 and 11/11) by major brands and platforms to encourage consumers to shop en masse, especially those who happen to be single.
This year, in the context of a slowing Chinese economy, expectations were high to see whether sales would actually grow or not.
Yes, there was finally growth (modest, 2%, compared to 3% in 2022, to $156 billion), but with several notable development:
- The dominance of Alibaba’s platforms and its main competitor, JD.com, was slightly reduced, with shoppers opting more for alternatives such as Pinduoduo (a leader in group buying) and Douyin (known in the rest of the world as TikTok).
- The influence of live streaming, previously discussed here, fell from 33% to 22%, as tracked in surveys.
This is all interesting information, but it does not take into account the most relevant factor: the extremely high level of competition in the market, with many brands losing money on these sales, in order to improve their positioning and recover more profitable sales throughout the year.
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