If you feel that 2020 has been the worst year ever then it’s time to indulge yourself in a treat. Tomorrow is Singles Day, a gargantuan shopping event that originally started in China but has since become a worldwide celebration where you get to buy yourself a gift online.
Singles Day 2020 is set to be the biggest yet, and looks like it could be up there with Black Friday in the e-commerce activity stakes.
Home delivery company ParcelHero reckons that Brits alone will be purchasing up to £1.54-billion of gifts this Singles Day, with tomorrow’s event forecast to see £45-billion in online shopping sales globally. British consumers who’ve become smitten with the Singles Day celebration – sort of Valentine’s Day in reverse – will be able to take advantage of dedicated Singles Day online sales from many leading retailers.
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Although Black Friday is November’s main online shopping event, closely followed by Cyber Monday, Singles Day is becoming increasingly popular. With 2020 having left many of us down in the dumps, this year’s event will be particularly appealing for consumers looking for an excuse to indulge in a bit of online retail therapy.
Singles Day 2020
“Single’s Day is the flipside of Valentine’s Day,”agrees David Jinks, Head of Consumer Research at ParcelHero. “It’s a chance to buy yourself – rather than anyone else – a present. Singles Day was created in China in 1993 by single male university students to cheer themselves up. The date selected was 11/11, with the repeated number 1 symbolising solo living.
"Globally, Singles Day is now a bigger online shopping event than even Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Following the year we have all experienced, beleaguered Brits have earned the right to buy themselves an online gift to get through Lockdown 2.0. Think of it as a reward for getting through this annus horribilis.”
ParcelHero’s research has revealed that global spend for Singles Day was a huge £34.45bn last year, although a significant chunk of this cash was spent in China. £23.81bn passed through Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s sites alone. Nevertheless, UK Singles Day sales reached £1.29bn last year and are predicated to rise by over 20% this year.
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