Singles Day - will the Chinese spend a trillion yuan?

Coming from China, celebrated on November 11 "Singles Day" is currently the largest shopping festival in the world. The genesis of this holiday dates back to the early 90's, when it was established as a smaller alternative to the popular Valentine's Day. In 30 years, it has grown into a global shopping festival. This year, sales could exceed one trillion yuan for the first time. More and more often, "Singles Day" is also celebrated in Poland and more and more stores have prepared a promotional offer for it.

Singles Day XXX

China's "Day of Singles", which spends over $ 130 billion, surpasses the value of American shopping festivals - "Black Friday ", "Cyber ​​Monday" or Prime Days on Amazon. This year, however, a slowdown in spending can be expected, and the festival itself will test the state of the Chinese economy on several levels. The most important question remains about Chinese consumer spending, which has decreased recently. The question of how much the share of online spending in the economy may increase (this is already a record in China) also remains open. This is in line with the ongoing debate on the gradual relaxation of China's "zero covid" policy, which is putting a heavy burden on the economy.

According to research, this year 34 percent. Chinese consumers plan to spend less on Singles Day than in the previous year. 24 percent plan to spend more. buyers. Confidence is being undermined by the "zero covid" strategy and the great crisis in the real estate market. Spending growth this year will be lower than last year's increase by 15%, but there is still a chance that sales will exceed the magic barrier of RMB 1 trillion. It is worth remembering that private consumption accounts for only half of China's GDP, compared to 70%. in the US, maintaining unsustainable economic recovery. China dominates global online sales of $ 3 trillion annually. According to eMarketer data, online sales in this country account for 50 percent. all retail. This is a level unattainable in other markets. In Great Britain it is 35 percent. and in the US only 15 percent. In September in Poland, this share - according to GUS - amounted to 9,7 percent

Main beneficiaries of "Singles Day"

The two biggest players on Singles Day are Alibaba and JD.com. However, the festival itself evolves from a one-day event to a multi-day festival. Competitive pressure is also building up as additional market players, from Vipshop to Amazon, are emerging in China. And as much as 37 percent. of consumers planning to shop on five or more shopping platforms. Technologies used on the occasion of this day are also developing, from live streams supporting sales to the increasingly popular VR purchases. Exposure to the broadly understood e-commerce market in China and in the world can be obtained through EToro Smart Wallets @ShoppingCart and @ChinaTech.

About the author

Pawel Majtkowski - analyst eToro on the Polish market, which shares its weekly commentary on the latest stock market information. Paweł is a recognized expert on financial markets with extensive experience as an analyst in financial institutions. He is also one of the most cited experts in the field of economy and financial markets in Poland. He graduated from law studies at the University of Warsaw. He is also the author of many publications in the field of investing, personal finance and economy.