Singles’ Day, also called Double 11, takes its name from Nov. 11, a date whose four ones make a fitting emblem for singlehood. In 2009, Alibaba turned the occasion into an online sale with 27 merchants. The premise was simple. You didn’t need someone else to buy you a gift. You could buy yourself one.
Shoppers in the United States will recognize what happened to the calendar. Like Black Friday, Singles’ Day now takes up considerably more space than its name suggests. This year, JD.com started selling on Oct. 12, and Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall followed on Oct. 20. Nov. 11 is still the date on the banner, but the competition for shoppers’ budgets began weeks earlier.
That gives retailers time to try things that would sound improbable in an ordinary holiday circular. Here’s what made this year’s festival stand out:
- The Lipstick King sold office AI. Austin Li, the livestream host famous for selling cosmetics, sold 100,000 monthly memberships to Alibaba’s QwenWork office AI service in 30 minutes, Reuters reported. The memberships represented roughly 2 trillion AI tokens, units used to measure how much of the service customers consume. These were credits for using software, not cryptocurrency. The novelty was watching access to an office tool get the same treatment as a beauty launch.
- The robots had a good sale. JD reported that unit sales of intelligent humanoid robots rose 700% year over year during an early stretch of the festival, according to Cailian Press. The report gave no unit count, so the jump doesn’t tell us how many shoppers took home a robot. JD also reported increases in spending on AI electric toothbrushes and smart water cups. Apparently, the bathroom sink and the desk were both due for a software upgrade.
- Some of the deals never came in a box. JD offered promotions on pet services, elder care, home cleaning and appliance repair, China Securities Journal reported. These offers change what the retailer must get right. Shipping a discounted appliance is one job. Finding someone who can show up at the right time to fix the one you already own is another.
The AI double makes for a better screenshot, but the appliance repair may tell retailers more about where a shopping festival can go. A shopper can leave the event with a gadget, a software membership or an appointment. Each gives the platform a different reason to stay in the customer’s life after the sale, including a delivery, a renewal or another booking.
That’s the useful comparison for U.S. retailers as Black Friday stretches across November. A longer calendar gives merchants more chances to cut prices. It also gives them room to sell something a customer might never have thought to look for during a holiday sale.
You can still treat yourself to lipstick on Singles’ Day. This year, the guy selling it could also help you get through your inbox.
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