Singles’ Day Sales Growth Slows Amid China’s Economic Challenges

Retail sales made during China’s annual Singles’ Day shopping event reportedly slowed again this year amid the country’s economic challenges and consumer skepticism about retailers’ promotions.

While eCommerce platforms used to see growth in the double digits during Singles’ Day, more recent estimates put those figures in the low single digits, AP reported Monday (Nov. 11).

Singles’ Day, which started as a one-day event held on Nov. 11 but is now being promoted by retailers weeks earlier, is often viewed as a barometer of consumer sentiment in China, according to the report.

Consumer interest in the event has faded amid the country’s real estate crisis and deflationary pressures, per the report.

When AP interviewed consumers about their views of the shopping event, one reportedly buying only daily necessities, while another said some of the supposed deals offered during the event are only discounts on prices that were raised immediately before the event.

Furthermore, discounts have been common over the past two years because of China’s weak economy, and they haven’t gotten any better during Singles’ Day, according to the report.

Amid slowing sales in the domestic market, eCommerce platforms and their merchants have turned their focus to international opportunities, per the report.

Singles’ Day started out as an occasion celebrated by university students but was popularized by Chinese eCommerce retailers Alibaba as a retail shopping event beginning in 2009, PYMNTS reported in 2018.

The event expanded as it attracted additional Chinese eCommerce platforms, merchants and brick-and-mortar retailers as well as a wide range of international merchants and brands.

By 2021, Singles’ Day had become the world’s biggest sales event, generating an estimated $139 billion in just 24 hours that year.

It was reported in July that economic growth in China had fallen to its slowest pace in five quarters as a decline in consumer spending hamstrung an increase in exports.

Gross domestic product grew 4.7% year over year in the second quarter, lower than all but one of 28 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists, while retail sales climbed at their lowest monthly pace in nearly two years.