What we can learn about Black Friday from Singles Day 2021

What we can learn about Black Friday from Singles Day? Last year, Alibaba’s Singles’ Day shopping spree, commonly known as 11.11. Brought in £34.45 billion, putting Black Friday in second place. What does China do well? How can UK merchants use what they’ve learned to enhance seasonal sales?

Outside of the essential Christmas shopping season. Black Friday and Singles Day have unquestionably become two of the most important occasions on the retail calendar.

Black Friday, which began in the early 1950s and takes place the day following Thanksgiving Day. It is in the United States, is now synonymous with chaotic images of buyers flooding into stores. As soon as they open in order to take advantage of enormous discounts. While the shopping event has only lately cemented its place on the UK retail calendar. Owing largely to Amazon.

Singles, in the meantime. Day, which falls on November 11 each year. Emerged in the 1990s as a festival for single individuals in China. The date 11.11 was chosen because the Chinese character “1”. Represents an individual who is alone. When Alibaba sold deeply discounted products on its platform for 24 hours in 2009. Singles’ Day became a major commercial event in China. Since then, more Chinese retailers have followed suit.

Singles’ Day was the largest shopping spree the world had ever witnessed. To put that in perspective, it’s three times the number of online sales made on Black Friday last year. And more than 90% of it was done on mobile devices. Singles’ Day in China – and on a global scale. It is breaking records, Black Friday in the UK continues to pale in comparison. To the frenetic scenes on the other side of the Atlantic.

Top three lessons from Single Day for Black Friday Marketers

Alibaba is concentrating on three things to improve its Singles Day outcomes. All of which are in line with its New Retail strategy. Each of these regions has something to teach Black Friday marketers.

Lesson 1: Blending online and offline platforms

Alibaba has invested substantially in new platforms that combine the best parts of traditional sales platforms. In preparation for Singles Day, and has put these to use in a variety of ways.

Aside from the Hema store, Alibaba has opened the AlipayHK Pop-up Store. A 4,000 square-foot unmanned store to test New Retail technology.

One of the most prevalent drawbacks of online clothing shopping is the inability to check sizing. Shoppers, on the other hand, frequently express dissatisfaction. With having to contact with salespeople in physical stores.

This store, like Hema, combines the convenience of online shopping. With the advantage of being able to engage with things in person.

Face recognition detects customers upon admission and connects them to their Alipay accounts. The checkout generates a bill that customers pay with their smartphones using radio-frequency identification. Customers can choose to have their packages delivered to their homes. Using preloaded address information.

Customers also get product recommendations based on their current location. As well as discount notifications that direct them to certain retailers.

Through inventive solutions, this merging of platforms overcomes the limits of online and physical shopping.

Lesson 2: Using omnichannel communication and sales strategies

Alibaba, as we’ve seen, employs a variety of channels to boost sales, including online platforms. Like Tmall and Alipay, physical locations, and the pop-up stores mentioned above.

Alibaba adopts an omnichannel communication strategy to create a synchronized shopping environment. To ensure a completely seamless consumer experience. This ensures that customers can get consistent product information regardless of where they shop. On the app, in the store, or on the web.

What customers may communicate across numerous channels and shop whenever. Wherever, and however they want using this communication strategy.

Lesson 3: Making shopping fun and interactive

When it comes down to it, each of the Singles Day innovations has the same purpose. To persuade customers to shop more by making the experience enjoyable and interesting.

Alibaba understands that the majority of modern e-commerce customers are young and mobile-savvy. Shopping must become a communal activity, and ultimately a type of interactive entertainment. In order to appeal to this important consumer segment.