Pre-Event Marketing Period Approaching for Alibaba's Successful Singles' Day Holiday

Alibaba’s “massive success” in turning a day celebrated by single college students -- Singles’ Day -- into a shopping holiday spawned a host of me-too e-commerce events, Coresight Research reported Friday. Last year, China’s highest-grossing shopping holiday generated $25.3 billion -- more than five times that of Black Friday -- and was held in 225 countries and regions, said analyst Deborah Weinswig. Alibaba supports the event with a “star-studded gala,” with past celebrities including Nicole Kidman and Pharrell Williams. The e-commerce company’s success led to wannabe events including Amazon Prime Day in July, JD.Com’s 6/18 Anniversary Sale and other holidays on special dates in the Chinese calendar, she said. The “preheat period” for Singles’ Day is approaching, when shoppers learn about 11/11 promotions and begin placing discounted items in their digital shopping carts to purchase on Singles’ Day, she said. This year’s GMV is expected to break the previous record, which was up 39 percent over 2016.