There is likely to be a busy Singles’ Day for the e-commerce sector this year, says London-based online delivery service provider ParcelHero.
With money tighter than ever, Singles Day is ideally timed for early-bird Christmas bargain hunters, ParcelHero believes. It said that we should expect a £2bn ($2.46bn) shopping spree this weekend as Brits “double down” on Singles’ Day, the world’s biggest shopping day.
ParcelHero’s head of consumer research, David Jinks, outlined: “Singles’ Day is supposedly the flip side of Valentine’s Day. It was created by lonesome Chinese single male university students in the 1990s to cheer themselves up by purchasing something nice.
“The date selected was 11/11, with the repeated number 1 symbolising solo living. By 2009, the event had become a global sales sensation, with people beginning to spend money not only on themselves but also buying presents early for Christmas.”
Jinks went on: “ParcelHero’s latest research shows the Singles’ Day global spend was over $139bn (£112bn) last year, with the Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com winning the most sales. To put that into perspective, last year Black Friday made ‘only’ $65.3bn (£53bn) worldwide.
“With retail prices still high and inflation yet to fall enough to take the strain off our family finances, we are all in need of some pre-Christmas bargains. With that in mind, we believe Brits will embrace Singles Day and splash £2bn this Saturday.”
Yesterday, Air Cargo News (ACN) reported that Germany-headquartered logistics giant DB Schenker is ramping up its e-commerce business as two important dates in the retail calendar approach: China’s Singles Day on November 11 and Black Friday on November 24.
For e-commerce, they also mark the start of the most important period of the year and, as a result, a peak in demand for related logistics services.
