Practical Guide for Your 2023 Singles' Day (Double 11) Success

It is the first Single’s Day (Double 11) event after China lifted the 0-Covid policy this year. In light of this, platforms, merchants, and brands are actively devising strategies to ignite demand, enhance consumer engagement, and foster brand awareness. The question arises: how can brands and merchants best prepare to seize this exciting opportunity? In this article, we shall provide you with a practical guide to ensure your success in the Single's Day of 2023.

Single's Day stands as a retail phenomenon in China, celebrating the idea of self-love through shopping, irrespective of one's relationship status. Initiated by Alibaba Group in 2009, this event has accomplished remarkable growth. Over the course of 12 years, Taobao's Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) surged from 50 million (6.87 million) to an astounding 540.3 billion Yuan ($84.54 billion US) in 2022. To leverage the opportunity, let’s look at the transformation of consumers’ behaviour first.

Alibaba’s gross merchandise volume on Singles’ Day from 2011 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars). Source: Statista

Chinese consumers’ behaviour under depressed economic outlook

Understanding the evolving landscape of consumer behaviour is the crucial first step in preparing for Singles' Day. Currently, China is experiencing a K-shaped recovery, where one proportion of the economy is bouncing back and the other continues to suffer the effects of the recession. Despite some consumers being more cautious with their spending, their demands have been long suppressed during the pandemic, especially for offline experiences. Restaurants and business transportation have both seen a significant resurgence, marking a 15.8% and 47% increase respectively, released by the State Statistics Bureau of China. According to GHK research, an AI-powered intelligence platform and consulting service cooperate, the recovery of shopping malls is another noticeable trend, with offline stores experiencing a 29.5% increase in sales of beauty products.

Additionally, the driving force behind consumption has shifted towards self-pleasure and emotional value. According to Guoji Technology, a data provider of social media, topics related to emotional value in Little Red Book have garnered over 31.33 million views in the past 30 days. It indicates consumers’ increasing awareness of mental health and self-care.

Mostly mentioned topics related to ‘emotional value’ in Little Red Book: Growth, Feeling, Hope, Study, Family, Happiness etc.

The Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day) in 2023 witnessed impressive e-commerce sales. It is reported by Zhiyi Tech, a big data analysis data for Taobao & Tmall, in July of this year, product reviews for items related to "Qixi" and "Valentine's Day" for men surged by 7.3% an astonishing 472% compared to July 2022, while reviews for gender-neutral products saw an extraordinary increase of 1412%. Additionally, the average order value experienced a 7% uptick, reaching 249 Yuan ($34.3 USD). This indicates that consumers are willing to spend on a sense of satisfaction like gifts to please both their loved ones and themselves, while tending to be careful when making substantial investments.

Trending gifts of Qixi festival: doll bouquet & scratch ticket bouquet

As China enters the post-pandemic phase, we could expect a promising economic revival. Despite this positive trend, consumer confidence in the economy remains below pre-pandemic levels, prompting a rational spending habit. Moreover, the landscape of Chinese e-commerce aligns closely with digital trends. Under this situation, how can you best equip yourself for Single's Day and pave the way for growth? The following guide may inspire you.

1. Redecorate product detail pages

It is essential to make your products stand out through eye-catching and informative content in the fierce competition. The first step is to focus on its visual and textual elements. In the digital realm, visuals speak louder than words. It was researched that the main commodity picture affects over 40% of the conversion rate, thus, displaying vibrant images showcasing the unique selling points of your products to captivate potential customers.

Second, craft a concise yet compelling product description that highlights its key features, benefits and discounts. Customers often skim through descriptions, so make sure to communicate the most crucial information upfront using concise language that resonates with your target audience.

Third, address potential questions and uncertainties by including details about the product's size, application scenarios, and recommendations for the targeted audience. Providing this information can accelerate consumers’ decision-making process and enhance the conversion rate.

2. The comment section is significant for decision-making

Customer feedback consistently wields a substantial impact on your sales performance. An impressive statistic reveals that more than 90% of consumers verify store ratings when they are hesitant, with an additional 80% opting out of orders if they find the rating unsatisfactory. Therefore, it's wise to acknowledge, express gratitude, and even extend exclusive discounts in response to positive comments from contented customers. This practice not only cultivates brand loyalty but also shapes the image for potential customers perusing the feedback section. Conversely, when receiving negative feedback, it's crucial to swiftly address customer inquiries and concerns, demonstrating your commitment to resolving any issues.

Comment Section of Timage

3. Employ AI marketing tools

AI-driven marketing tools are invaluable assets for merchants to drive sales in the dynamic landscape of modern commerce. These tools analyze customer behaviour, preferences, and historical purchase data to personalize product recommendations and rank the commodities. Alimama, Alibaba Group's marketing platform, offers a range of AI-powered tools designed to showcase your products to a precisely targeted audience, enhance their ranking, and position them prominently. These tools include Wangxiangtai, Direct Train, and Gravity Cube. By showcasing products tailored to individual interests, you can substantially increase conversion rates.

Alimama Marketing Tool: Wangxiangtai

Additionally, for efficient management, harnessing data analysis tools empowers you to make informed decisions, optimize your product lineup, and allocate resources efficiently to yield the maximum return on investment.

4. Always highlight the deals

Highlighting enticing and irresistible deals can capture the attention of shoppers and drive unprecedented revenue. Placing coupons, discounts and the benefits of pre-orders, such as reduced prices, free gifts and guaranteed availability, in prominent positions draws customers in from their very first glance. This strategic approach captures customers’ interest, encourages purchase and generates early sales.

5. KOCs would be useful

Leveraging Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs) who have hands-on experience with your products can significantly amplify both sales and your brand's influence. They would not only repurchase but also actively recommend your offerings to new customers holding substantial potential. Introducing a reward system, whether through exclusive discount codes, special offers, or even a tiered rewards structure, can serve as a powerful incentive for KOCs to introduce their followers to your products. This strategic alignment of interests expands your customer base and enhances brand credibility within the KOCs' follower circles.

To coordinate the KOC marketing strategy, it's wise to consider the implementation of a membership system or an online push strategy. They can foster higher repurchase rates and cultivate a sense of community and exclusivity, contributing to sustained success.

6. Leverage Chinese social media

Chinese consumers are pretty digitalized. In China, people on average spend 5 hours and 50 minutes on the internet, within which over 2 hours and 12 minutes are spent on social media platforms. Furthermore, the users of social commerce reached 700 million hence it has great potential.

Several social media platforms in China emerged rapidly, such as WeChat, Douyin (TikTok Chinese Version), Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu), and Kuaishou. They are participating in the competition with traditional e-commerce platforms like Taobao & Tmall and JD.com. Their positive content ecosystem and huge traffic catalyze the e-commerce GMV. These platforms are adopting a ‘seed-transaction’ approach, a self-sustaining cycle that involves recommending products to consumers and prompting them to make purchases. Producing appealing content and operating accounts on influential social media would expose you to more audiences and enhance your presence in the market.

Moreover, the integration of private and public traffic has emerged as a potent strategy to leverage social media influence. A notable example is WeChat, which offers platforms such as WeChat Work, Groups, and Video Accounts for maintaining private interactions. This approach allows merchants and platforms to seamlessly guide consumers from public spaces to more personalized channels, enhancing customer management and subsequently boosting conversion and repurchase rates.

Furthermore, the advent of live streaming has ushered in a dynamic tool for real-time engagement and compelling purchase incentives. This platform offers audiences a combination of alluring prices and an entertaining atmosphere. In the 2022 Double 11 event, live-commerce achieved a remarkable sales figure of 181.4 billion Yuan ($24.9 billion US), marking a staggering year-on-year growth rate of 146.1%. This far outpaced the overall increase rate observed in e-commerce transactions.

7. Rational investment in advertisement

Crafting a strategic and well-executed advertising campaign can be the key to capturing the attention of potential customers amidst the shopping frenzy. For example, launching a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign on Baidu, China's leading search engine which has over 628 million monthly active users (MAU) can significantly boost your brand's visibility. Bid on relevant keywords related to your products to ensure that your offerings appear at the top of search results for higher click-through rates and conversions.

Additionally, collaborating with top Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) can grant your brand access to their vast and engaged audience. Their endorsement and authentic reviews can build trust and credibility among their followers, boosting the chances of conversions. To illustrate this impact, Guangdong Couple, renowned KOLs on Douyin, produced a staggering 700 million Yuan ($96.1 million US) in one single live stream. Evidently, live commerce has significantly shaped Chinese consumers’ online shopping experiences.

Investment in prime advertising placements on e-commerce giants like Tmall and JD.com would be another necessary way to improve marketing efficiency during Singles' Day. These platforms offer premier positions for banner ads and featured placements, ensuing exceptional visibility. Committing resources to secure these high-quality advertising spots is pivotal, as it guarantees your promotions reach the vast multitude of shoppers thronging these sites during the event.

Brands and merchants could begin the preparation earlier this year because Chinese consumers are increasingly rational than before and require more time to explore and compare products. Despite this, we can still hold a positive perspective for the sales this Double 11 due to the increase of various industries including apparel, health skin products, beauty etc. and recovering consumption confidence.