There is really no shortage of discounts in November: Black Friday will take place in around two weeks, followed by Cyber Monday a few days later.
But consumers can also put some products in bags for cheaper prices beforehand: The reason for this is a day of action, which is probably still unknown to many German consumers, the so-called Singles' Day.
The day of action comes from China and traditionally takes place every year on November 11th, as the number 1 is supposed to symbolize a single person.
In China, singles organize big celebrations on this day, hoping they might fall in love.
Stefanie Diemand
Editor in business.
Follow I follow
In recent years, Singles' Day has established itself primarily as an opportunity for Chinese companies to advertise their customers with special discount campaigns - and they have been breaking all records for years.
According to its own information, the Chinese Amazon competitor Alibaba is said to have sold goods worth the equivalent of almost 48 billion euros just 30 minutes after the official launch last year.
For this, the group lured customers to its platforms with reduced prices weeks before the actual discount day.
Biggest shopping day in the world
Singles' Day is now the biggest shopping day in the world. It will probably continue like this, because according to a survey by the consulting firm Alix Partners, 85 percent of the Chinese surveyed want to spend the same or even more money this year than last year. It is therefore less surprising that German companies are also launching special campaigns on this day in China: the Bielefeld-based pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturer Dr. Wolff, which includes brands such as Alpecin, Plantur and Alcina, sold 200,000 bottles of shampoo last year. Record, according to a spokesman. The company wants to build on this again this year and is promoting a golden Alpecin bottle with Chinese Olympic champions.
Singles' Day is also gaining in importance in Germany, but it is still far from the Chinese dimension. According to the survey, just 15 percent of Germans know Singles' Day. "This low level of awareness results from the failure of German retailers to establish Singles' Day," says Tim Thiele from Alix Partners. This would give companies away a lot of potential. After all, such discount days generate frequency and ultimately sales.
But Thiele knows that there are already industries in this country that offer discounts on Singles' Day. These include, for example, the perfumeries. Douglas sees itself as a “pioneer for Singles' Day in the cosmetics market”. "November 11th is the online shopping day with the highest turnover in the world and is therefore of outstanding importance for us as a strong e-commerce provider," said a spokeswoman.
Douglas has been promoting the day of action with discount campaigns since 2018, and has done so quite successfully. In addition to Valentine's Day, Black Friday and Christmas, Singles' Day is one of the best-selling phases of the year. That is why Douglas is running its own campaign again this year especially for the day of action. Media Markt and Saturn, who have been planning extra campaigns for this day for several years, are doing the same thing. Singles' Day "has always been extremely well received by our customers," says the company. The discount day has even arrived in stationary grocery stores: the discounter Aldi Nord, which should be well versed in discounts, is taking part in Singles' Day for the first time this year. Aldi Süd and its competitor Lidl have had offers in the brochures for several years.
Thiele believes that the importance in Germany will continue to increase.
Because even the stationary trade could increase the frequency in the city centers with such days of action.
"Especially for international retail groups, which also shape the German inner cities and shopping centers, it is and remains too tempting to establish appropriate cross-border campaigns."