What is 11.11? For people not living in China, these are just two beautiful numbers. On this day people can get married or go to the movies, that’s probably all. But in China it's a completely different story. On this day you can spend your entire salary and no one will judge you. On this day you will click on the page reload icon a hundred million times. The day when you will receive SMS with advertising every five minutes. This Singles' Day in China (光棍节), as well as the day of big sales in online stores or, as the Chinese call it 双十一(shuang shi yi).
Bachelor's holiday
Many who live in China already know that 11.11 was originally associated with Singles' Day, only then it began to be associated with the American Black Friday.
Everyone knows that the Chinese are very fond of appropriating magical meanings different combination numbers. So, November 11 was not ignored. This holiday was first celebrated by students at Nanjing University in the early 90s, when many single people gathered with friends or went on blind dates to say goodbye to single life once and for all. Later this holiday spread throughout China and became especially popular among young people.
Internet shopaholics' paradise
Even before the development of Internet technologies and the advent of online stores, large shopping centers began to organize big sales, when discounts could reach 50%-90%. People lined up in huge queues to get the coveted item at a very attractive price. Nowadays, almost every person with high-speed mobile Internet can take part in the sale without leaving home. All you need is an account on Taobao and a lot of money in your bank account, because the temptation to buy something will be very great. Who would refuse "bath salts made from white rhinoceros saliva" for only 1.99 yuan?!)
Advertising
Even a month before the sales start, on the streets you will see posters, posts about the impending chaos, or hear on the radio how coupons are being raffled off for various goods, from umbrellas to iPhones, or even cars. Internet giants such as Tmall, Alipay and others can invite show business stars to advertise their platforms and promote products.
Delivery
On sales days, courier services operate at 24/7 . And don’t worry if 3-4 days have passed and your order has not yet been delivered. Indeed, these days, even working at full capacity, courier services do not have time to cope with such a huge number of orders. The minimum waiting time may exceed 1-2 weeks. Even a month after paying for your order, they may ring your doorbell and give you a crumpled box with your purchase inside.
Breaking records
In 2009, Alibaba held its first large-scale sale on the Internet. Then other online stores adopted this tradition. Already in 2015, China set a record for online sales. Revenue amounted to 2 billion 385 million dollars for one day. In 2016, in the first 7 minutes of sales, goods worth $1.5 billion were already sold!!! Company representatives are ready to break their own record again. The large growth of users and the large volume of the market make this task quite realistic.
Over time, Singles' Day began to evoke such a great response in the hearts of lovers of magic numbers that it was decided to coincide with this day for global sales in Chinese stores. In this sense, the holiday of singles can be called an analogue of the American “Black Friday”, and today the date is known throughout the world as World Shopping Day.
The first major trading platform to organize sales on November 11 was the Chinese online hypermarket AliExpress. The founders of the store noticed that single men most often make purchases online, which means Singles’ Day is the best time to hold sales online.
Since 2013, the store has been organizing massive discounts on hundreds of thousands of its products on the occasion of Singles' Day. Here are the main features of this promotion:
- The amount of discounts reaches 50% and more. In just one day, the hypermarket invariably receives huge revenue, and many new users join its customers, since the holiday is considered a good reason for fun shopping.
- Discount information and the most advantageous offers become available on the website 2 weeks before Singles' Day. This is how the store encourages its customers to postpone their planned purchase for a few days in order to later purchase the product they like at a more attractive price.
- General fun. On the occasion of Shopping Day for AliExpress customers, various games with discount coupons and other online entertainment.
The Chinese online store JD.com also annually holds sales on November 11th. Its customers are especially excited about discounts on consumer electronics, gadgets and other goods that are usually expensive, but on holidays can be given to the lucky owner at a minimal price.
“Bachelor” sales can be found not only in China, but also in other countries. Recently, in honor of the November 11 holiday, discounts have been offered by such world-famous brands as Procter & Gamble, Unilever and others.
World Shopping Day in Russia
In our country, Chinese Singles' Day and the World Shopping Day that coincides with it are not yet particularly popular. Global sales in Russia are held a little earlier - at the very end of October, on Halloween. In fact, this is the same “magic” of discounts that is so loved in other countries.
However, the Russian website AliExpress does not break tradition, so this year it will also hold sales dedicated to the November 11 holiday. Russian buyers will be able to take advantage of all the discounts and coupons that are available in China. If you are planning to make any purchase online in the near future, then it is best to wait for Chinese Singles' Day and go to AliExpress!
Like World Shopping Day. He is not yet very famous, but is gradually gaining popularity. As soon as a person learns about this pleasant event, he quickly joins the ranks of its adherents. Many people look forward to this day all year long! The publication will tell you why. We will also consider when and by whom this holiday was organized, and how it should be celebrated.
The Origin of Singles' Day
What does this event have to do with it? It is directly related to World Shopping Day. But this will be discussed a little later.
So, this holiday originally began to be celebrated in China in the nineties of the last century. Then students from various universities in Nanjing decided to come up with Singles' Day and celebrate it widely. They chose the date not by chance. The fact is that 11.11 is the date on which the holiday falls. It consists of four units. They, in turn, in China symbolize people who are not in a relationship with the opposite sex. The Celestial Country takes the magical influence of numbers seriously. Its residents believe that November 11 is the most suitable day for starting a love relationship and establishing romantic acquaintances.
After graduation, former students spread the event throughout the community. Today, Singles' Day is a special date for all young people, as is World Shopping Day.
Traditions of celebrating Singles' Day
A few years later, this date began to be celebrated by young people in many countries around the world. You can highlight the most traditional way to celebrate this event. On this day, it is customary to invite your best friends over for lunch or dinner. This is how young people who prefer to live alone express their independence and reluctance to start a romantic relationship with anyone.
There is also the opposite way to celebrate November 11th. Those who are looking for a soulmate, on the contrary, invite a person they like to dinner. Also on this day, blind dates are often organized. They can even be arranged by happy couples for single friends to say goodbye to single life.
Sales in stores for Singles' Day
Many stores in China have sales on November 11th to coincide with Singles' Day. It would seem, how is it related to shopping? There is a completely logical and fairly simple explanation for this. We can even consider that this was the beginning of World Shopping Day on November 11th.
As you know, the stronger half of humanity does not love shopping. Therefore, the sellers decided to try to attract more men, promising them big discounts. It’s even possible that some of them will meet the woman of their dreams in the store and decide to say goodbye to their bachelor life. After all, representatives of the fair sex usually come to sales.
From the very beginning, Shopping Day was conceived as an event that could make shopping dreams come true. Thousands of products were offered, even for sophisticated tastes, from underwear to innovative electronics. Moreover, they could be purchased in any quantity with breathtaking discounts of up to 75 percent.
Is November 11th Black Friday?
In fact, Shopping Day is an analogue of the famous “Black Friday”, which was invented by the Americans. It is believed that this is a holiday of rational people who know how to count money. Global sales are timed to coincide with it, in which almost all stores and retail outlets in the world today take part. The history of Black Friday dates back to the Great Depression, and this is the main difference. World Shopping Day is complete without fights over goods, bruises, stress and hours of standing in line.
Online shopping day
There are many fans of active online shopping among men and women. For them, searching for the most interesting and profitable offers has long become a routine habit. For such and other people, in 2009, the largest Internet platform from the Middle Kingdom, Alibaba Group, made marketing ploy. She called it Shopping Day, coinciding with Singles' Day. The owner of the company held the largest sale on his resources, in particular in the Aliexpress online store, where half-price discounts have long been the norm. It is generally accepted that this is how the history of the holiday officially began - world day shopping.
The idea was quickly picked up by other online platforms, and they also began holding grandiose online sales. They typically only lasted 24 hours and offered discounts of up to fifty percent on a million items. The main idea was to hold the promotion during the off-season, when sales are not usually held. In this way, the organizers decided to express gratitude to regular customers.
Shopping Day success
The organizers of the event planned for it to become an annual event. Users were offered a significant discount that was simply impossible to refuse. This helped turn a potential buyer into a real one. The company was not mistaken, because the success was stunning.
In 2013, the participation of a million people in World Shopping Day promotions per day brought the Chinese Alibaba Group platform almost six billion dollars. This is how the holiday turned into the world’s largest online sale, which left behind “Black Friday”, “Cyber Monday” and other analogues.
Development of the holiday in Russia
In 2014, representatives of Alibaba Group announced that store owners represented on the international online platform Aliexpress would also actively participate in the online sale. Thanks to this, since November of the same year, Russians have had the opportunity to “celebrate” this grandiose event. Every year more and more people make purchases on Shopping Day, as evidenced by statistics.
Sale records
The November sale on Aliexpress has long been a major event for people from many countries. Thus, in 2014, Russians were in third place in terms of the volume of purchases made, because they ordered the most a large number of goods. Every year the number of purchases is only growing. People know what World AliExpress Shopping Day means and prepare for this event in advance.
The results of the 2015 sale are simply stunning! Almost fifty million customers were placing orders simultaneously from 212 countries. The Visa and MasterCard systems simply could not withstand the load. Users were unable to pay for their purchases for almost an hour until the glitch was fixed. The first billion was earned in record time - in just eight minutes. As a result, more than thirty million parcels were sent.
In 2016, Russian buyers alone (there were more than six million of them) spent almost $18 billion. As a result, about thirty-five million orders were paid with an average bill of seven hundred rubles.
Forecast
Based on the results of last year's sales, experts suggest that the number of orders in online stores in China could increase 20 times compared to normal days. The number of buyers will also increase, and their average bill will be more than seven hundred rubles. People are expected to buy smartphones, tablets, portable chargers, clothes and New Year's souvenirs.
As you can see, the holiday is becoming more and more popular. Be sure to try to grab big discounts on World Shopping Day. Enjoy the shopping!
Holiday November 11 - Singles' Day
November 11 is International Singles Day. It should definitely be celebrated on the eleventh of November. Although in some countries of the world it is celebrated on the seventh of June. But the first date is preferable due to its initiative of origin. And the Festival, as it is also called, owes to the Singles of the People's Republic of China. More precisely, Nanjing University. The fact is that the students who study there are mostly young men. Once a representative part of these same students gathered at a party, and one of them came up with an idea: since we are all unmarried people, shouldn’t we start celebrating Singles’ Day, Singles’ Day?!
Laughter is laughter, but only such a holiday has taken root here. And what’s more, he stepped far beyond the boundaries of a higher educational institution. For example, he was supported by students at Peking University. And in Russia he also has many supporters. True, they don’t celebrate in an official way, but they gather in campaigns - “bachelor parties” in a cafe, restaurant, or at someone’s wealthy home, in a country house, outdoors by a river or in a clearing, singing songs with a guitar, dancing, sometimes that on such a half-joking occasion they also set tables - with champagne, fruit, chocolate, but within the bounds of decency.
They also say that the decisive role in choosing the date for celebrating Singles' Day was played by magical Arabic numerals - the 11th day of the month and 11 - the eleventh month itself. Four units, four single sticks. That's the whole schedule.
Although there is something significant behind this combination of units. China is a densely populated country. Today, one billion and more than three hundred million people live on its territory. Where else can demographics develop?! And the Law on Birth Rate Reduction was adopted. Because of this, young families began to desire to acquire an heir, a boy. If ultrasounds predicted girls, in most cases abortions were performed. The result was a predominance of young men - there were a third more of them than the fair sex. Where can one catch the bird of happiness - getting married? You will inevitably get carried away by the celebration of Singles' Day. At least some kind of outlet. But with all due respect to this date with a touch of humor, most bachelors still dream of mature age tie the knot, have children, and then grandchildren. Today, it often turns out like this - two grandmothers, two grandfathers, father, mother, and one child, due to birth control! Well, let there be at least one instead of no one around!?
Old age is not a joy either! It’s one thing when, in old age, you are surrounded by family members, and you won’t get bored with them. Another thing is that you are the only person in the world, you are sick, and there is no one to give you a glass of water. There are many such unfortunate people in the world!
However, not to mention densely populated China, even in modern Russia millions and millions of bachelors. Some of them are quite wealthy. For example, oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov. Or his other brother - Sergei Popov, or the third - Ruslan Tariko, the vodka king. This list goes on.
There are eligible bachelors in foreign countries too. American actor Joe Manganiello - burning eyes, dark hair He has Armenian, Sicilian, Austrian and German roots. A real handsome man, but he still hasn’t found a soul mate, just like the twin brothers Taylor and Cameron Winklevoss, English athletes. Ian Somerhalder, an American actor known to wide moviegoers for the films “The Vampire Diary” and “Lost”, is still considered a confirmed bachelor; the singer is Puerto Rican Ricky Martin. And this list can go on for a long time.
Singles' Day is celebrated not only by single people. For fashionable youth in China, according to American tradition, Black Fridays are organized. Consumer goods are being sold at a discount of almost fifty percent. Including through the Internet trading network. In 2013, China even set a kind of record - on Black Friday, goods worth 19.1 billion yuan, equal to $3.1 billion, were sold through the World Wide Web. And we started with vodka. Usually a bottle of it costs 2 thousand yuan, but on sale it went for one yuan (!). Here's to Singles' Day, Singles' Day!
Singles' Day originates from the universities of Nanjing (China). This holiday is called "anti-Valentine" day. Since the 90s, it has spread throughout China. Since the combination of numbers is of great importance in China, the date 11.11 represents people who are lonely. On this day it is customary to exchange gifts and make new acquaintances.
Singles' Day is very popular in China, although it is not considered a national holiday.
Singles' Day is a Chinese holiday that has not yet been hackneyed; it is celebrated on November 11th. The focus on this day is on people who are not married. This day is considered to be the best day for starting a new relationship.
Nowadays, the celebration of Singles' Day takes place as it did in the 90s, guys gather with their men's groups in order to have a great time. The meeting place and time do not matter, because these people are not burdened by family ties. This allows them to spend an unlimited amount of time with their friends, actively showing their specialness and independence.
Nowadays, it is customary to celebrate this day not only among students, but also among people who have not yet gotten married; this celebration has no age restrictions. One of the most common entertainments of this day is the “blind meeting”.
Singles' Day in China has already become a tradition
One of these traditions, perhaps even the central one, is the sale. On this day, as on other celebrations that seem to be state or officially recognized celebrations, shopping centers announce huge discounts. Sellers count on good mood on this holiday, and with significant discounts, they force visitors to empty their “pockets.”
On Singles' Day, this tradition took on a huge scale. This event is usually equated to the well-known “Black Friday” in the United States of America.
Singles' Day in China, November 11, has other uses; it is also celebrated before saying goodbye to a lonely single life. Bachelors lead a life similar to the life of a single person, which is why Singles Day is called Singles Day. Also, the date of this holiday plays an important role. In China, they pay very close attention to numbers, for them the number '1' means loneliness, respectively, the number November 11 contains four numbers, which is a symbol of complete loneliness, due to the meaning of this date, Singles Day is celebrated on November 11.
Singles' Day and its relevance to China's demographics
Since the People's Republic of China has demographic problems, the very prospect of procreation is the most important goal in life. The government's actions to restrict families from having more than one child have led to dramatic changes in the demographic background.
Families who have the opportunity to have a prenatal examination showing the sex of the child, when they find out that their family is having a girl, often resort to induced abortion in the hope of giving birth to a son. The birth of a daughter is not a joyful or anticipated event for most families. Singles' Day in China, in addition to having a pleasant time, also has a rather sad connotation.
