Singles' day checklist: How marketplace sellers can prepare for 11.11

While Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are major shopping events, none are quite as big as Singles' Day, the largest online shopping day in the world, on November 11th.

In fact, if matched or added together, these highly advertised shopping days are dwarfed by the astronomical spending occurring on Singles' Day, taking in billions more into revenues. A report by Business Insider shows that in one day, consumers in China outspend the annual earnings of entire countries.

This event isn't as well known in the US but is important for ecommerce brands that maintain a presence in countries where this event is a big deal.

Let's dive into a breakdown of what Singles' Day is about and how you can prepare for it.

What is Singles' Day?

In 1993 students at Nanjing University started celebrating their single status as an anti-Valentine’s Day. They chose November 11 (11.11) for the event, with four "ones" symbolizing single individuals. It quickly caught on becoming popular with young and single adults across China.

In 2009, ecommerce giant Alibaba noticed an opportunity in the holiday and began to start marketing Singles' Day on their Taobao marketplace and offering discounts and special promotions targeted at singles ready to splurge on themselves. That year, Alibaba made around $7 million in sales.

Over the years, Singles' Day exploded in size. In 2015, just a year after going public, Alibaba set a Guinness World Record and raked in $14.3 billion in one day, the most money any company had ever taken in during a 24-hour period at the time. Customers from more than 200 countries joined the shopping spree.

As it continued to grow, it started attracting international brands such as ASOS, Nike, Apple, Adidas, Brooks Brothers, Estée Lauder, and many others offering special deals. Celebrities like Nicole Kidman, Taylor Swift, and Katy Perry have performed at Alibaba events celebrating this day.

More recently, Billie Eilish launched a limited-edition Singles' Day collection with Urban Outfitters, and Kim Kardashian promoted her beauty products during the shopping event. This unique holiday has become a global phenomenon, making it a must-know event for any brand wanting to tap into the Chinese market.

How marketplace sellers can prepare for Singles' Day

1. Mobile optimization and UX

Why it matters

Singles' Day still remains a mobile-based shopping extravaganza, given that 90% of all purchases across the day come via mobile. This tells something about how mobile-minded Chinese and Asia-Pacific consumers have become. So, if your business is planning to join in the Singles' Day promos, be sure your website and campaigns are fully optimized for mobile users and comply with Google's recommended best practices for mobile pop-ups.

Action steps

Here are some key tips to keep in mind:

• Avoid using promotions that make it difficult for visitors to navigate your site.
• Opt for non-intrusive pop-up designs like banners or tabs to deliver general messages.
• Trigger mobile pop-ups after a time delay or upon the visitor's second-page view to minimize disruption.
  
  

It's equally important to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. Verify that the navigation menu is easy to use, site elements are responsive, and critical information on mobile product pages is visible and accessible. This will help provide a smooth shopping experience for mobile users during the event.

2. Optimize product listings

Why it matters

Optimizing product listings is essential for delivering a better user experience, reducing return rates, and improving searchability on marketplaces. Well-structured and accurate product listings help customers find your products quickly, make informed purchasing decisions, and minimize the chances of dissatisfaction that lead to returns.

When your product details, such as descriptions, attributes, and images, are clear and accurate, customers can confidently know what they're buying. This not only enhances user satisfaction but also boosts your product’s visibility in search results, ensuring you stand out amidst the competition.

Action steps

Ensure your product titles, descriptions, and attributes are accurate and detailed, highlighting the most important features customers care about. Use high-quality images that give a realistic view of the product from multiple angles.

Check out these resources if you're looking for help specifically with Amazon:

• Amazon A+ content
• Amazon flat files
  
  

You could enlist the help of marketplace integration software like ours to automate updates to product details and inventory, reducing manual effort and the risk of errors, so you can focus on selling more and dealing with fewer returns.

3. Plan for inventory, logistics, and returns

Why it matters

A successful Singles’ Day event is more than great promotions, it’s also having the right logistical plans in place to handle surges in orders. Poor planning in inventory management or shipping leads to delays, dissatisfied customers, and damage to your brand’s reputation.

To avoid this, having accurate stock levels, fast shipping, and a seamless returns process in place is crucial to maintaining customer satisfaction and maximizing sales during this peak period.

Action steps

Analyze sales data from previous shopping events to estimate the demand for your products. Be sure to have enough inventory on hand to meet the anticipated surge in orders, particularly for your most popular items. It's better to slightly overstock than to have a stockout.

Make sure your return process is easy to follow and prominently displayed on your website. A well-communicated return policy reduces hesitation from buyers and can encourage more purchases. Our platform can help in keeping your product data synchronized across all platforms, ensuring that inventory and shipping information is accurate and up to date on every channel.

4. Leverage social commerce and live-streaming

Why it matters

Social media plays a crucial role in ecommerce, especially during major shopping events like Singles’ Day. With millions of potential customers browsing social platforms daily, promoting your deals there can significantly increase visibility and drive traffic to your online store or your marketplace.

Leveraging influencers and user-generated content (UGC) also builds trust and authenticity, which are key factors in influencing purchasing decisions.

Action steps

Create platform-specific content that aligns with each audience’s preferences and tone. Collaborating with influencers or brand ambassadors can amplify your social commerce efforts - Tap into their followers and introduce your promotions to new potential customers.

If your brand has a strong social following, consider hosting a live stream event to engage directly with viewers and promote your offers in real time.

Is there a popular single influencer whose values match your brand? Collaborate with them to create content on the benefits of being single and request your customers contribute to it. The UGC will increase engagement and may go viral.

Don't forget to add relevant hashtags to your posts - be creative and test what resonates best with your audience.

5. Localize your content

Why it matters

Although Singles' Day remains primarily an East Asian holiday, its global influence is steadily growing. More brands are getting involved, and last year, at least 100 U.S.-based companies, including Brooklinen, Ann Taylor, and Saks Fifth Avenue, offered Singles Day promotions.

For brands looking to expand into new markets, participating in Singles' Day is an essential move. This therefore presents a huge opportunity for both engagement and growth, especially if one is able to tap into the spirit of the holiday effectively.

It's also important to consider that November 11 carries a different meaning in Western markets-in particular, in the US and Europe it's a day of remembrance. As you decide which holiday to focus on, the tone and messaging will be important to change based on who you're targeting.

Action steps

For Western or Australian brands aiming to reach a broader global market, it’s crucial to account for cultural nuances in your marketing approach. Start by ensuring accurate translations—automated tools like Google Translate won’t cut it, and use geo-targeting to deliver a personalized experience for visitors based on their location.

Additionally, with a good marketplace integration software tool, you can manage currency conversion seamlessly. List products in local currencies for each market while accepting payouts in your primary currency. Automated price conversions across currencies not only improve the user experience but also minimize manual errors and allow you to focus on scaling your global presence.

Lastly, be mindful of how different design elements like colors or symbols may be interpreted, as marketing messages are often tied to cultural contexts. Understanding these nuances is vital for any brand looking to expand its reach and successfully enter new markets.

6. Focus on profitability

Why it matters

During major sales events like Singles' Day, it's easy to get caught up in the excitement of boosting sales volume. However, focusing on profitability is just as important. One of the most effective ways to do this is by increasing your average order value (AOV). Instead of relying solely on discounts to attract customers, enhancing the overall value of each purchase can significantly improve your profit margins during the event.

Action steps

• Product Bundling: Offer curated product bundles at a slight discount to increase order size and introduce customers to more products.
• Upsell and Cross-Sell: Suggest complementary or premium items to encourage customers to add more to their carts.
• Free Shipping Thresholds: Set a minimum spend for free shipping to encourage higher-value purchases.
• Limited-Time Offers: Run flash sales or limited-time deals on higher-margin items to drive urgency and larger orders.
  
  

7. Post-sales engagement and customer care

Why it matters

Your relationship with customers shouldn’t end after they’ve made a purchase. Following an event like Singles’ Day, it's essential to maintain the momentum. This simple act helps build a stronger connection between your brand and your customers while fostering a sense of community.

Action steps

Reach out to buyers and encourage them to share photos of their new purchases, inviting them to become part of your brand’s journey. Showcasing success stories and images on your platforms serves as social proof, highlighting the appeal of your products.

Plus, when customers share their experiences, it often sparks conversations with their friends and family, leading to organic word-of-mouth promotion. This type of engagement can set the stage for even more successful Singles’ Day events in the future.

Get ready for Singles' Day with ChannelEngine

Singles’ Day is an unmatched opportunity to boost your ecommerce sales, but it requires thoughtful preparation and a customer-focused strategy.

This will definitely be a huge shopping event, and one should maximize the benefit of optimizing for mobile, fine-tuning product listings, leveraging social media influence, and making sure logistics will be ready. As always, planning in advance is crucial to staying competitive and providing the best experience.