Singles' Day is a $46 billion world shopping event but most Kiwis are oblivious

Friday, 8 November 2019

Singles' Day is the largest global online shopping event, racking up $46 billion in sales in one day in 2018 - but Kiwis are still largely unaware of it.

A survey from price and product comparison site PriceSpy found 73 per cent of people in New Zealand had not heard of the November 11 shopping festival.

It began as an anti-Valentine's Day in the 1990s before being adopted as a promotional tool by Chinese retail giant Alibaba.

It has since spread across the globe.

The 73 per cent of Kiwis who were unaware of it was only slightly down on the previous year, when 76 per cent said they had not heard of Singles' Day.

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While Kiwis were relatively oblivious to the 24-hour shopping event, New Zealand retailers have been quicker to buy into the hype.

A2 products were massively popular during Singles' Day 2018. Fonterra is prepping for a massive bump in sales this year.

PriceSpy country manager Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett said data from 2018 showed more than a third of products listed on the site were discounted on Singles' Day.

This was particularly true for electronics, in particular televisions and mobile phones.

Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford said the festival was growing in importance.

'We have seen Black Friday rapidly emerge into the New Zealand consciousness over the last few years, primarily because New Zealand consumers were visiting overseas websites and Kiwi retailers responded to that in order to keep customers and win business,' Harford said.

'The same's likely to be true of Singles' Day, as well. It's an overseas shopping experience, but Kiwis are being exposed to it, and it's likely that New Zealand retailers will respond.'

Singles' Day, also known as 11:11, celebrates single people, giving them permission to buy themselves or others a present.

Alibaba's 11.11 shopping festival began in 2009 with participation from 27 merchants, a spokesperson for the company said.

In 2018, more than 180,000 brands and merchants participated in the event.

In terms of country-based sales, New Zealand was the ninth-best performing country in 2018, up from its 14th placing the previous year.

Last year, A2 and NZ Lamb in particular were big winners.

Sales of New Zealand lamb jumped 917 per cent in the first hour of the event, compared to the same period in 2017.

President of Fonterra China, Christina Zhu, said Fonterra achieved a strong result in 2018 with an estimated total of $28 million in sales on 11.11.

More than 30 million people visited the Anchor online store within that 24 hours on 11,11. The equivalent of 8400 tonnes of product was sold.