paid subscribers: scroll to the bottom for my video on my “why” behind this Takedown. Hit reply to share what you want me to look into next.
3 Keepers will return next Wednesday
Today is the peak of the world’s biggest online shopping event. It has nothing to do with Black Friday, which oddly seems to already be underway. Early much? More than $260 billion will be spent, and many of us won’t contribute a cent. Hell, most of us probably aren’t even aware of it. So consider this your greeting.
Four Bare Sticks
Happy Singles Day! It’s not what you think. It’s all about today’s date: November 11. The eleventh day of the eleventh month. (1-1-1-1) 11/11 is four 1s, which Chinese slang calls “bare sticks,” referring to single people. Don’t judge. I’ve spent much of my life as one.
In the 1990s, Nanjing University students embraced the date and celebrated themselves, sans girlfriends. Here’s the real twist: you are both the giver and the receiver. That’s right, you’re shopping for yourself.
And it appeals to me on every level. A true secular holiday rooted in numbers rather than religion. Top spending categories are home appliances, phones and electronics, clothing and beauty products. Basically, something for everyone.
Marketers Found It
Chinese tech giant Alibaba, which operates the world’s largest online marketplace, adopted Singles Day in 2009. Not surprisingly, it’s been growing in size and length since. It is a true marketing-manufactured holiday.
What started as a 1-day shopping holiday has turned into a five-week shopping extravaganza. So shoppers buy more. Naturally. To the tune of $260 billion, which is this year’s spending estimate.
And today – Nov. 11 – is often the largest single day of spending. In 2021, one-third of all sales happened on Nov. 11.
So let’s put it in context of something we’re familiar with: Cyber Monday. Last year we spent $14 billion online. If the trend holds for Singles Day, about $86 billion worth of goods will be purchased today. That would make Singles Day 6 times larger than Cyber Monday.
Meanwhile, Black Friday Came Early
Black Friday has already overstayed its welcome. Which is curiously different this year, as Cheryl Wischhover flagged in a note on Substack; Sarah Shapiro of Private Label by Sarah Shapiro shared her thoughts on the “why” here.
My take: retailers are scared to death we won’t be spending this year. All signs — from gas to inflation to consumer sentiment — suggest the critical holiday shopping season could be a real doozy.
If you want to participate in Singles Day, you’ve still got time and there are opportunities:
AliExpress is running an 11.11 “Global Shopping Festival.”
Check out places like Temu, Shein and ShopBack, a cashback site.
My Singles Day Plan? Don’t.
As for me, my plan is to not shop today. We’re packing for our road trip and already I’m conflicted between staying warm and looking cute. My new animal print coat arrived and I can imagine walking around town in it. But I’d probably freeze my ass off.
Our friend and neighbor is always kind about getting our packages when we’re gone. But it looks like we have a real problem. I always think I’ve got it under control. But it’s like all the delivery folks hold all our stuff and wait until we’re gone to release the throttle. Packages show up en masse. A safe showed up once and she had to lug that home? Talk about a good neighbor.
When life stops making sense, we shop. More soon.
This is FASCINATING! I hadn't heard of this holiday and the fact that it's causing that much spending is wild. I'm not surprised it originated in China given the continuous sex bias. It's amazing to see the continuous fallout of the one child policy and just how dramatically it impacts every aspect of society.
As a single person, I love this idea, and I have been unknowingly engaging in it throughout the year lol. (I also love that matchstick graphic.) Have a great road trip!