Interesting Stories about How Americans View Singles' Day

On November 11, Chinese online shoppers probably don’t really consider this day as a holiday. After all, it was a joke made by students at Nanjing University more than 20 years ago. If Taobao Mall, the predecessor of Tmall, hadn’t come up with an online shopping promotion six years ago, few people would remember today’s “Double Eleven”.

The ones who suffer are the single men. This "festival" was originally intended to belong to them, but Tmall has transformed it into an online shopping carnival. Those who enjoy online shopping are mostly those who have families and concerns.

A survey by ACNielsen found that more than 60% of people who shop on "Double Eleven" are married, and only a quarter are single. Therefore, it is probably inappropriate to call "Double Eleven" "Singles' Day".

This year's "Double Eleven" has become famous across the ocean. With Alibaba Group's listing in the United States on September 19, setting a record for the highest IPO financing in history, "Double Eleven" - which actually became the world's largest online shopping festival last year, has finally been noticed by the American media this year.

It is difficult for these journalists to introduce "Double Eleven" to their American readers. First, they have to give it a name and then add a note. The name is easy to choose, because it was originally a Chinese Singles' Day, so it is called Singles Day. What kind of holiday is it? Anti-Valentine's Day. What does this holiday celebrate? A time for the lonely hearts to celebrate or lament their single status. Foreigners like to be serious, and this time they have learned their lesson.

I can boldly predict that starting from next year or the year after, the Chinese festivals that Americans know the most about, apart from the Spring Festival, will be "Double Eleven". This year's "Double Eleven" is still mostly seen on American TV financial programs and in newspapers; it won't be long before Americans can experience the shopping carnival atmosphere of "Double Eleven" as personally as the Chinese.

On the day of Singles’ Day, Hayley Peterson, a British reporter for Business Insider, wrote an article titled “This Is What It Looks Like When A Company Sells $9.3 Billion In Merchandise In A Single Day”. This article used some photos of express parcels overflowing warehouses of several express delivery companies such as YTO and STO taken by Reuters. Haha, when Liu Qiangdong was delivering goods on a tricycle, didn’t we look at JD.com in the same way? JD.com is now a company with a market value of nearly $40 billion.

Alibaba is already the world's largest online shopping platform, but according to a survey by Bizrate Insights, only 5% of Americans have shopped on Taobao, Tmall, AliExpress and Alibaba.com (most of whom may be Chinese Americans). Out of curiosity, Sam Grobart, a reporter from Bloomberg, spent $4,503 to customize 280 pairs of bright jeans on Alibaba's website before Alibaba's IPO in the United States. It took 28 days in total, and the total price of each pair of jeans, including shipping costs, was only $16.08. Do you know what Sam Grobart felt in the end? He said, I finally figured out what Alibaba is. Alibaba is the world's largest 3D printer!

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.