{"id":45242,"date":"2023-10-20T15:42:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/alibabas-singles-day-in-china-racks-up-23-billion-in-sales-should-australia-run-its-own-e-commerce-discount-fest-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:42:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:42:05","slug":"alibabas-singles-day-in-china-racks-up-23-billion-in-sales-should-australia-run-its-own-e-commerce-discount-fest-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/alibabas-singles-day-in-china-racks-up-23-billion-in-sales-should-australia-run-its-own-e-commerce-discount-fest-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Alibaba’s Singles’ Day in China racks up $23 billion in sales: Should Australia run its own e-commerce discount fest? – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The resounding success of China\u2019s Singles\u2019 Day sales has promoted experts and business owners to call on more Australians to get involved with international retail events.<\/p>\n

Singles\u2019 Day is a Chinese deep discount e-commerce event, held on November 11 each year. The event was created by Chinese retail giant Alibaba, and pulls in excess of $20 billion in sales each year.<\/p>\n

This year, Alibaba reported $1 billion in sales in the first five minutes of the 24-hour long event, and a record $23.39 billion in sales over the whole event reports The ABC<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read more: Singles\u2019 Day highlights scope of e-commerce in China, but patience is the name of the game for Aussie SMEs<\/strong><\/p>\n

American retailers benefit from the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but the two days combined are still dwarfed by the sales done on Singles Day.<\/p>\n

However, Australian shoppers and retailers are not presented with many options when it comes to similar events close to home. The closest comparison can be drawn to flash sale event Click Frenzy, which brought in approximately $189 million in sales in 2014.<\/p>\n

However, executive chairman of the National Online Retailers Association Paul Greenberg told SmartCompany<\/em> that Click Frenzy is \u201cnothing to be scoffed at\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of retailers are quite pleased with the growth they get when Click Frenzy comes around,\u201d Greenberg says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t really compare to China when it comes to these sales.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenberg embraces all forms of retail events, believing the more there are on the calendar the better. However, he believes a specific Australian-centric sales day is not needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSingles\u2019 Day will become a global phenomenon soon enough. As the world flattens more retailers will sell in and out of China, I predict it will become a global shopping mania,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it\u2019s all about now is how Australian retailers can get a slice of the action.\u201d<\/p>\n

This morning SmartCompany<\/em> spoke to one Australian retailer who is instead focusing on the American flash sale weekend.<\/p>\n

Smart50 finalist Rob Ward from Annex Products told SmartCompany<\/em> his business does months\u2019 worth of sales in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t run anything for Singles\u2019 Day, we\u2019re much more invested in Black Friday and Cyber Monday,\u201d Ward says.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year we were up 198% from 2014\u2019s sales, so we\u2019re hoping this year follows suit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward\u2019s business sells its iconic Quadlock bike smartphone mount, and used to participate in Click Frenzy \u201cwhen we were a bit smaller\u201d. The business doesn\u2019t participate anymore, and Ward believes retailers should be focused more on international sales events.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the world\u2019s pretty small. There are a number of retail events around the world that we can partake in if we want to, as Black Friday and Cyber Monday don\u2019t just have to be for American retailers,\u201d Ward says.<\/p>\n

He believes more retailers should get on board, as it is \u201cthe one day of the year you can discount your products that much without doing damage to your brand\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tool we use, it\u2019s part of our strategy now,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Australia-only sales day \u201cseems funny\u201d<\/h3>\n

Ward also thinks the concept of an Australian only sales day \u201cseems funny\u201d, and businesses should aim to be more global.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere doesn\u2019t have to be rules surrounding location. Businesses shouldn\u2019t be in the mindset of being an \u201cAustralian\u201d business, the business should be everywhere, and just happen to be located in Australia,\u201d Ward says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be where we are if we weren\u2019t global from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greenberg supports international sales events like Singles Day and Black Friday but worries the themes are too focused on deep discounting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more celebrations than just a race to the bottom. I\u2019d prefer to see something like a shopping festival, rather than just a competition on how much we can cut,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s more to engaging shoppers than just slashing the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Ward and Greenberg believe Australian shoppers would be eager to support local retailers when they in international sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as it\u2019s well run, cohesive, and the shopper gets put at the centre, I think everyone will get on board,\u201d Greenberg says.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on Smart Company. <\/em><\/p>\n

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