Some of my friends shop online like it’s a paying job. With sales and promotions being offered year round, who can blame them? But at what time of year do shoppers find the very best deals? Traditionally it’s been November and December when most retailers lower prices to rake in over 20% of their total annual revenue[i]. But in an omni-channel, multi-device, globalized world, international shopping events happen all year round. Here are the definitive top three international shopping events that eCommerce retailers plan for year after year.
#1 Single Not Ready to Mingle: Single’s Day
Unknown to most Americans, Single’s Day is THE biggest shopping day in the world. Sort of an antithesis to the one day of celebrating love and affection with a partner (Valentine’s Day), this Chinese non-holiday was “started by bachelor university students in the 1990s who bought themselves presents as a kind of anti-Valentine’s day[i].”
Celebrated annually on November 11, Single’s Day is a 24-hour shopping event that recorded $25.4 billion dollars last year, exceeding Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined[ii]. Heavily promoted by China’s number one eCommerce platform Alibaba, this shopping event features sales on items ranging from appliances, to apparel, to beauty products including global brands like Samsung, Nike and Clinique.
US retailers looking to grow their companies into global household names need to take advantage of Single’s Day by getting their products in front of consumers in Shanghai, Bejing and 8 other Chinese provinces with the most disposable income per capita.
“Getting your products in front of a new market is the first phase of growth, especially in a new country. The other critical phase is the shipping and delivery of your products. US retailers who can’t establish a physical storefront must invest in partners (like Point2Point Global) now to ensure their products will be delivered into the hands of their international customers. The growing middle class of Chinese netizens are clamoring for high quality products, regardless of where they are being shipped from,” said Alec Stern, Point2Point Global CEO.
To learn more about the world’s biggest eCommerce shopping event, read 11 Things to Know About China’s 11/11 Single’s Day from WhatsOnWeibo.Com
#2 Ready for Prime Time? Amazon Prime Day
Bargains know no bounds and that rings true for Amazon’s Prime Day. Beating its own sales records year after year and considered one of the biggest sales events annually[i], Amazon’s main shopping event is a global affair with more than 17 countries participating[ii]. This year, Prime members from Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands and Luxembourg participated in the global eCommerce event for the first time[iii].
Fortune and TechCrunch reported that some of the most popular items by country include PlayStation 4 Pro 1TB Console with Bonus Fortnite Content (Australia), SanDisk Ultra 64GB memory card (Spain), Top Super Nanox Liquid Laundry Detergent + Extra Large Refill (Japan), and Philips Sonicare Healthy White HX6730 Toothbrush (China).
Without providing exact numbers, Amazon revealed that members “globally purchased more than 100 million products during this year’s Prime Day event” with sales exceeding $1 billion[iv]. Some estimates peg the final number closer to $2 billion, according to RBC Capital Markets[v].
Amazon Prime Day first took place on July 15, 2015. 2019 dates are still to be determined (by Amazon, of course!) but, traditionally, it takes place in July.
#3 Talking Turkey: Black Friday & Cyber Monday
Once considered an American holiday shopping tradition — because Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are THAT good – the days after Turkey Day have turned into international eCommerce events. Black Friday, which takes place the day after the US Thanksgiving holiday, has many Canadians flocking south to take advantage of US retail deals promoted during this big sale[vi]. According to the World Economic Forum, shoppers from the UK, Germany and France also jumped on the bargain bandwagon last year to gobble up incredible savings on popular items.
Last year Black Friday total sales recorded $5.03 billion dollars[vii] and $6.59 billion dollars on Cyber Monday [viii] with a growing percentage of transactions taking place online. 2018’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday will take place on November 23rd and 26th of this year.
But Bigger is not Always Better.
Here are some smaller eCommerce shopping events that could be the perfect revenue-driver for your brand and products:
- Apple’s annual event taking place today! September 12th
- Boxing Day on December 26, U.K.,
- International Children’s Day on June 1st
- Autumn Moon Festival in Mid-September, East Asia
- Carnival Season the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday and Ash Wednesday at noon, Brazil
“The rise of eCommerce shopping offers international buyers great deals, but it can also be seen as a cultural exchange for a shopper who doesn’t have access to a brick and mortar store. For instance, October 1st is Buying British Day. A shopping event focused on British-made goods, available at a discount, helps generate awareness about the high-quality U.K. products. With the right marketing and shipping providers in place, this can be a great campaign to the international market about British-made goods,” according to James Leung, Commercial Strategy, Point2Point Global.
Need some help deciding which eCommerce shopping events in which countries would work best for your brand and products? Point2Point Global can help. Ask us!
[i] https://www.techradar.com/news/amazon-prime-day-2019
[ii] http://fortune.com/2018/07/18/amazon-prime-day-sales-record/
[iii] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/17/amazon-announces-2018-prime-day-results.html
[iv] https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/18/amazon-prime-day-outage-cost/
[v] https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/18/amazons-prime-day-again-became-the-biggest-sales-day-in-its-history/
[vi] https://www.shopify.com/retail/black-friday-cyber-monday-2017-10-upcoming-trends-and-tips-from-industry-experts
[vii] https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/24/black-friday-deals-net-640m-in-sales-so-far-mobile-60-of-all-traffic/
[viii] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/28/a-record-6-point-59-billion-spent-online-on-cyber-monday-making-us-history.html
[i] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/12/chinese-shoppers-spend-a-record-25bn-in-singles-day-splurge
[ii] https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/11/singles-day-china-shopping-festival-smashes-record-at-the-halfway-mark.html