There’s a huge opportunity for online retailers to boost sales growth with Singles’ Day as it sees far bigger revenue than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. But, while it’s in the same month as BFCM, your approach and strategy for China’s biggest shopping day must be entirely differentiated to keep it in line with the Singles‘ Day spirit.

1.   Target your single audience

Remember, this is an event in celebration of singledom, meaning that images of couples and families aren’t suitable here. Instead, all photos, language and general sentiment should reflect happy, single people and their lives as they are now.

2.   Offer products for single people

Singles’ Day is about the single person, so put the best products on offer that acknowledge and recognise their status and life. Items for large families, like a big camping tent, aren’t often used by a single person and therefore aren’t relevant for this event.

It’s also important to consider and put forward the products that encourage self-love and care. While functional items are appreciated, make sure to include some treats like fashion, beauty products and special events to leave single customers feeling pampered and nurtured.

For instance, in 2022, Alibaba stated that sales of high-tech beauty devices, such as gadgets to cool and lift facial skin, had surged 5,570% from the previous year.

3.   Get creative and interactive

While you may not have the budget for avatars and virtual influencers, getting creative in your marketing strategy is key to success for this event. Chinese customers expect an element of gamification and interaction as they find and explore your store and products, so try to include this where you can without breaking the bank.

Adding media like short product reels created on TikTok or Instagram is a great and easy way to include more interactive videos on your website and store. You could also add virtual games widgets, competitions and challenges that encourage customer interaction with your brand.

4.   Ensure your store is mobile-first and optimised

Being an e-commerce event, Singles’ Day has always been about buying online. As more shoppers are using mobile devices during Singles’ Day, it’s key that your website and marketplace are optimised for mobile use. In 2021, around 828 million consumers were shopping on their mobile devices on Singles’ Day – that’s more than the population of Europe!

This means a smooth and seamless user experience from the moment a customer virtually enters your store right through to the checkout process. With a lot of competition and sales to be made, you want to make the customer experience and their decision as easy and straightforward as possible.

Also, as Singles’ Day is China’s largest shopping festival with over 500 million users on a single platform, it’s crucial that your store and payment functionality is set up to manage large transaction volumes for the day.

5.   Acknowledge the Asian market and culture

Singles’ Day, while growing internationally, still mainly caters to the Asian market and it’s here that many businesses can find their global audience. However, finding an Asian audience is one thing – but keeping it is another.

Show that your business is respectful of and embraces the culture through small adaptations, such as social media livestreams of your launch on Singles’ Day and using lucky numbers or multiples of 11 in your discount codes and Singles’ Day marketing.