- Alibaba‘s Singles’ Day is a massive, 24-hour shopping extravaganza unlike anything else in the world.
- This year, the event kicked off with a four-hour gala featuring countless celebrities, including model Miranda Kerr and singer Mariah Carey.
- The gala is just one way that Alibaba brings drama to online shopping. It’s a crucial shot of hectic energy as historic shopping bonanzas like Black Friday lag behind.
SHANGHAI, China — I’ve experienced the stampedes of Black Friday shoppers. I survived the Prime Day outage of 2018. And, like an increasing number of Americans, I’ve checked deals on my iPhone during Thanksgiving dinner.
But, I have never seen a shopping event quite like Alibaba’s Singles’ Day: 24 hours of massive sales, overwhelming festivities, and, bizarrely enough, Mariah Carey.
In the hours leading up to Sunday, November 11, Alibaba kicked off its 10th year of Singles’ Day festivities in Shanghai. Twenty-four hours later, the Chinese e-commerce giant reported that customers spent $30.8 billion, or almost three times as last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers spent combined.
I had the good fortune to be in Shanghai for the entire thing, witnessing the most over-the-top, futuristic, and exhausting shopping celebrations I have ever seen.
Here’s what it’s like to take part in Alibaba’s Singles’ Day, as well as what it means for the future of the retail industry:
Singles’ Day kicks off with a four hour “gala.” Imagine Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade had quadruplets with Prime Day, and you’ve got the general idea.
Most people watch the gala — basically a variety show featuring singers, performers, and Allan Iverson overseeing a basketball competition — on TV or on their phones. People on their phones can shop deals on Alibaba sites such as Taobao and Tmall as they watch the show.
I am, however, actually at the gala — and experiencing the side effects of a mix of jet lag, cold medicine, and a truly wild production.
Sitting with other reporters and Alibaba communications staffers, I’m immediately overstimulated, even without the ability to shop online.
The drama is intentional. Over the last 10 years, Alibaba has worked to transform Singles’ Day from a day of deals to what CMO Chris Tung calls a sort of Christmas for brands and customers.
“It has evolved dramatically over the last 10 years to become a true festival,” Tung told me over the weekend.