Singles’ Day (11.11)

Table of Contents

  1. Definition
  2. Why Singles' Day matters for marketing
  3. How it works
    1. Event structure
    2. How to calculate Singles' Day performance
  4. How to utilize Singles' Day
  5. Singles' Day compared with other sales events
  6. Best practices
  7. Future trends
  8. FAQs
  9. Related Terms
  10. Sources

Definition

Singles’ Day is an annual shopping festival centered on November 11 that started in China and has become the largest online sales event in the world by gross merchandise volume (GMV). It’s also called Double 11, 11.11, or in Chinese, Shuang Shiyi (双十一). The date was chosen because the four 1s in 11/11 represent four single people.

The day began as an informal anti-Valentine’s celebration among students at Nanjing University in 1993, where four single men in a dorm agreed to mark November 11 together. Alibaba turned it into a shopping event in 2009. That first year, 27 merchants on Taobao offered discounts of at least 50%, and sales came to about 50 million yuan, roughly $7.5 million. Alibaba trademarked “Double 11” in China in December 2012.

Despite the name, Singles’ Day is no longer a single day. Chinese platforms now run pre-sales and promotions for three to five weeks before and around November 11. For 2026, Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall opened pre-sales on October 15, launched the main festival on October 17, and run sales through November 13. JD.com, Pinduoduo, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu run competing events in the same window.

The event has spread beyond China. Lazada and Shopee run 11.11 sales across Southeast Asia, and AliExpress, Temu, Shein, and some Western retailers promote 11.11 deals in their own markets.

See also: Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) · Cyber Week · Prime Day · Retail Media Network

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Why Singles’ Day matters for marketing

For brands selling in China, Singles’ Day is the year’s biggest sales event and the main test of a brand’s position on Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin. For global brands, it’s the clearest example of how platform-driven, mobile-first, and livestream-heavy shopping events work at scale. And it now sits two weeks before Black Friday, so brands selling internationally have to plan both.

The scale is hard to overstate. Data provider Syntun estimated total Singles’ Day GMV across major Chinese platforms at nearly 1.7 trillion yuan in 2025, about $240 billion. That’s more than five times Adobe’s $44.2 billion figure for U.S. Cyber Week online spending. The two aren’t directly comparable, though. Syntun’s total covers several weeks of promotions across many platforms, and GMV includes orders that are later returned or canceled.

Growth has been uneven. Alibaba alone reported 540.3 billion yuan in GMV for 2021, then stopped disclosing a total in 2022, citing results “in line with” the prior year. JD.com stopped the same year. Since then, third-party estimates have filled the gap:

YearTotal Singles’ Day GMV (Syntun, all major platforms)YoY growth
20231.14 trillion yuan (~$156 billion)+2.1%
2024Not cited here+26.6%
2025~1.7 trillion yuan (~$240 billion)+17.5%

Singles’ Day matters to marketers for several reasons:

  • Platform dependence. Success depends heavily on platform programs, traffic allocation, subsidies, and voucher mechanics that the platform controls.
  • Livestream and social commerce. Douyin, Kuaishou, and Taobao Live make creator-led livestream selling a central sales channel, not a side tactic.
  • Pre-sale mechanics. Deposit-based pre-sales let brands forecast demand and allocate inventory weeks before the main event.
  • A global template. Double-date sales (9.9, 10.10, 11.11, 12.12) are now standard in Southeast Asia, and cross-border marketplaces bring 11.11 promotions to Europe and North America.
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How it works

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Event structure

The exact schedule changes each year and differs by platform. Alibaba’s 2026 calendar for Taobao and Tmall shows the typical shape:

Phase2026 dates (China time)What happens
Pre-sale warm-upOct 15Shoppers browse pre-sale items and add to carts
Deposit paymentOct 15, 8 p.m. – Oct 20, 6 p.m.Shoppers pay a deposit to lock a pre-sale price
Balance paymentOct 20, 8 p.m. – Oct 25Shoppers pay the rest of the price
Spot-sale warm-upOct 17 – Oct 20Main festival launches
Spot salesOct 20, 8 p.m. – Nov 13Discounted items available for immediate purchase

Platforms keep changing the promotion mechanics. In 2025, Alibaba handed out about 50 billion yuan in vouchers to 53 million members of its 88VIP loyalty program, which shoppers could stack on an official 15% discount. For 2026, Taobao and Tmall built the event around platform-sponsored instant discounts applied at checkout, without bundled purchases or coupon collection.

JD.com’s 2025 campaign ran 37 days, five days longer than its previous record. Longer windows spread sales out. Analysts have pointed to this as one reason the event feels less urgent than it used to.

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How to calculate Singles’ Day performance

1. Gross merchandise volume (GMV) versus net sales

Net sales = GMV − Returns − Cancellations − Unpaid pre-sale balances

Headline Singles’ Day figures are GMV. Return rates can run high, partly because shoppers buy extra items to reach discount thresholds, then send them back. Brands should report on net sales internally.

2. Stacked discount

Effective discount = 1 − (1 − Discount A) × (1 − Discount B) × (1 − Discount C)

Singles’ Day pricing often layers platform discounts, brand discounts, and vouchers. A 15% platform discount plus a 10% brand coupon doesn’t equal 25% off. It equals 23.5%.

3. Pre-sale conversion

Pre-sale conversion (%) = Orders with balance paid ÷ Orders with deposit paid × 100

4. Livestream contribution

Livestream share (%) = Sales from livestream sessions ÷ Total event sales × 100

5. Currency conversion for global reporting

USD value = Yuan value ÷ Exchange rate (yuan per dollar)

Use the rate from the event period and state it, since conversions in press coverage vary.

A worked example (illustrative, not benchmark data): a skincare brand records 12 million yuan in GMV on Tmall and Douyin. It sees 2.4 million yuan in returns and 600,000 yuan in unpaid pre-sale balances, so net sales are 9 million yuan. If 4.5 million yuan came from livestream sessions, livestream share is 50% of net sales. At a rate of 7.1 yuan per dollar, net sales are about $1.27 million.

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How to utilize Singles’ Day

For brands selling in China:

  • Tmall flagship stores. Brands use the event to drive volume, rankings, and new followers to their official stores.
  • Pre-sales for new products. Deposit-based pre-sales measure demand before production and inventory commitments.
  • Livestream campaigns. Brands partner with creators on Douyin, Taobao Live, and Kuaishou, and run their own brand livestreams.
  • Membership growth. Brands recruit new members to their store loyalty programs during the event, then market to them during the rest of the year.

For cross-border and international brands:

  • Cross-border ecommerce. Brands without a local entity sell through Tmall Global and JD Worldwide.
  • Southeast Asia marketplaces. Lazada and Shopee run 11.11 campaigns across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
  • 11.11 promotions in Western markets. Some brands and marketplaces, including AliExpress, Temu, and Shein, run 11.11 sales as an early holiday promotion before Black Friday.
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Singles’ Day compared with other sales events

EventOriginTimingPrimary marketLength (latest)Scale (latest estimate)
Singles’ Day (11.11)Nanjing University students, 1993; Alibaba shopping event, 2009Mid-October to mid-November, peaking November 11China; also Southeast Asia3–5 weeks~1.7 trillion yuan (~$240B) GMV, all major platforms (Syntun, 2025)
618JD.com anniversary saleLate May to June 18ChinaSeveral weeksNot covered here
Cyber WeekU.S. industry usageThanksgiving through Cyber MondayU.S.5 days$44.2B U.S. online (Adobe, 2025)
Prime DayAmazon, 2015June or JulyU.S. and 20+ countries4 days$26.4B U.S. online, all retailers (Adobe, 2026)
12.12 (Double 12)Alibaba and Southeast Asian marketplacesDecember 12China; Southeast Asia1 day to several daysSmaller than 11.11

Two differences stand out. Singles’ Day is driven by platforms (Alibaba, JD.com, Douyin), while BFCM is driven by retailers. And Singles’ Day relies far more on livestreaming, pre-sales, and stacked vouchers than U.S. events do.

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Best practices

  1. Plan months ahead. Platform registrations, pre-sale listings, and livestream bookings close well before October. Many brands start planning in the summer.
  2. Know each platform’s rules. Mechanics change every year. Read the current year’s discount rules, subsidy programs, and eligibility requirements for Tmall, JD.com, and Douyin before setting prices.
  3. Model stacked discounts. Calculate the effective price after every platform discount, voucher, and brand coupon, so margins don’t disappear.
  4. Use pre-sales to forecast. Treat deposit volumes as a demand signal for inventory allocation.
  5. Budget for livestreaming. Include creator fees, commissions, and brand livestream production in the plan.
  6. Track net sales, not GMV. Measure returns and cancellations, and report net figures internally.
  7. Coordinate with Black Friday. For global brands, Singles’ Day pricing in China and Southeast Asia is visible to shoppers elsewhere. Align international pricing and messaging across both events.
  8. Retain new customers. Bring Singles’ Day shoppers into store membership programs and follow up during the 12.12 and Chinese New Year periods.
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Slower growth. Syntun’s estimate showed growth slowing from 26.6% in 2024 to about 17.5% in 2025, amid weak consumer confidence and heavy price competition in China.

Simpler discount mechanics. After years of complex voucher stacking and threshold discounts, Alibaba’s 2026 event centered on instant checkout discounts. Longer festivals with less urgency. Campaigns now run over a month. Analysts have suggested shorter, more focused campaigns to restore urgency.

Livestreaming and content platforms gaining share. Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu now start promotions in early October, competing directly with Alibaba and JD.com.

AI shopping assistants. Chinese platforms are adding AI tools for product search, recommendations, and customer service during the event, similar to the AI-assisted shopping trends seen during BFCM and Prime Day.

Global double-date calendar. Double-date sales, especially 11.11, keep spreading through Southeast Asia and cross-border marketplaces, adding another early-November event to global holiday calendars.

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FAQs

What is Singles’ Day? Singles’ Day is an annual shopping festival centered on November 11. It started in China and is the largest online sales event in the world by GMV.

Why is it on November 11? The four 1s in 11/11 represent four single people. Students at Nanjing University started the celebration in 1993.

Who created Singles’ Day as a shopping event? Alibaba turned it into a shopping festival in 2009, with 27 merchants on Taobao.

How big is Singles’ Day? Syntun estimated about 1.7 trillion yuan, roughly $240 billion, in GMV across major Chinese platforms in 2025. That figure covers a multi-week sales period and includes orders later returned.

Why doesn’t Alibaba publish Singles’ Day sales anymore? Alibaba and JD.com stopped disclosing GMV totals in 2022. Alibaba’s last published figure was 540.3 billion yuan for 2021.

When is Singles’ Day 2026? November 11, 2026, is the peak day. Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall opened pre-sales on October 15 and run sales through November 13.

Is Singles’ Day bigger than Black Friday? By total GMV, yes. Singles’ Day’s estimated GMV is several times larger than U.S. Cyber Week online sales. But the figures use different methods and time periods, so a precise comparison isn’t possible.

Is Singles’ Day celebrated outside China? Yes. Lazada and Shopee run 11.11 sales across Southeast Asia, and AliExpress, Temu, Shein, and some Western retailers promote 11.11 deals elsewhere.

What is Double 11? Double 11 is another name for Singles’ Day. Alibaba trademarked the term in China in 2012.

How should Western brands approach Singles’ Day? Brands selling in China usually participate through Tmall, JD.com, or cross-border platforms like Tmall Global. Brands selling elsewhere can treat 11.11 as an early holiday promotion, but should coordinate pricing with Black Friday offers.

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  1. Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM)
  2. Cyber Week
  3. Prime Day
  4. Retail Media Network
  5. Commerce Media Network (CMN)
  6. Influencer Marketing
  7. Creator Economy
  8. Delivery Duty Paid (DDP)
  9. Peak Season Readiness
  10. Retail Calendar (4-5-4)

Statistics reflect Singles’ Day 2025 results and 2026 platform schedules published as of October 2026. Figures are updated after each event.

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Sources

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