What This Year's Singles' Day Results Mean For the Holiday Shopping Season

Singles' Day, known as the 11/11 Sale, is a relatively new phenomenon in the United States. The shopping holiday began in China, but it has made its way to the U.S. and other global markets in recent years.

On a global scale, this year's Singles' Day sale came and went without explosive, record-setting sales numbers. However, ConvertSocial’s data reports that online sales for the event, some of which started as early as Nov. 1, jumped 42% globally. In addition, American purchases on Chinese marketplaces rocketed up 57%, with a significant amount of those sales numbers driven by content creators.

Because the two most prominent players, Alibaba and JD.com, decided not to publicly release reports on Singles' Day sales this year, ConvertSocial instead analyzed 20 million orders placed worldwide to find out which products and campaigns drew the most traffic this year.

Singles' Day is a great "rehearsal" for the main event of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so brands, online merchants and publishers often use the information from this sale to boost profits on the biggest discount days of the year.

Content Creators Led the Charge this Shopping Season

This year's impressive sales numbers are primarily attributed to the success of social media and influencer campaigns.

Over half of this year's World Shopping Day purchases in the U.S. were made thanks to social media and influencers. More than 37% were directly influenced after reading about products in blogs and social media posts, and nearly 14% of sales came from affiliate links.

ConvertSocial estimates their global profits jumped by 25% during the Singles' Day shopping period this year.

Here's What Everyone Was Shopping For This Year

The top seven categories for global sales across Chinese marketplaces were:

1. Home and garden: 14.6%
2. Jewelry and accessories: 12.7%
3. Electronics: 12.7%
4. Consumer electronics: 7%
5. Phones and telecom: 6.9%
6. Beauty and health: 6.4%
7. Toys and hobbies: 5.9%

In the U.S., these trends largely held: fashion purchases accounted for 46% of online orders; electronics, 16.5% and cosmetics, 10%. With last year's reported sales numbers over $139 billion, this is a substantial profit for these companies.

It's also important to note that most retailers chose to extend the discount period again. For the second year in a row, discounts were spread from Nov. 1-13 rather than limited to just Nov. 11. The average order from the U.S. during this time was $48, noticeably higher than the $31 global average.

Retailers are quickly learning how to capitalize on the attention garnered by this sale and how to roll this momentum into an even more successful holiday shopping season.

5 Strategies Brands Are Leveraging For Better Holiday Profits

1. Betting on mobile apps

Over 30% of Singles' Day orders were made from smartphones, reflecting consumer preferences and highlighting the popularity of mobile shopping. It's critical that mobile app discount mechanics are as smooth and streamlined as the desktop version.

When promoting holiday products and services, it's vital to use mobile ad networks and traffic types to boost sales.

2. Diversifying engagement channels

Last year, ConvertSocial recorded more than 45 different types of traffic, bringing in thousands of orders for numerous brands. This included everything from Facebook ads to forum banners and messenger notifications.

Any company working with an affiliate network should be open to as many different and unconventional types of traffic as possible. This increases reach and sales during peak times when traditional advertising channels are oversaturated.

3. Creating dedicated sale feeds

Customers have shown that they are more eager to hunt for deals when presented with an "endless feed" of discounts on a separate, vibrant and interactive page. Adding filters for major categories is also helpful for a better user experience and additional marketing opportunities. Plus, this kind of categorization helps partners drive traffic to the pages with maximum conversion potential, benefiting both the brand and the partner.

4. Adding gamification to engage customers' attention

As a sale, Black Friday is somewhat dull and expected among shoppers. Yes, plenty still actively seek out deals, but the truth is, most are not as excited about Black Friday as they may have been in previous years.

To spark that excitement and encourage engagement, consider adding gamification elements like hunting the sale pages for special discount icons or sending surprise extra coupons for being active in the store. Creative post-sale mechanics help earn loyalty and help turn the holiday shopping season into a fun experience that feels like an attraction.

5. Solidifying customer segmentation before the big days

Great customer segmentation is one of the most basic, most effective tools brands have to improve conversions and boost sales, especially during the holiday season. Customers are inundated with a flood of sale emails from every brand they can imagine, so yours must stand out as something hyper-relevant and exciting enough to click on.

The Numbers Show There's Still Time to Turn a Bigger Profit

The end of the year is always a sales marathon, so effectiveness directly impacts your bottom line.

Statistics show that consumers are still willing and able to spend substantial amounts of money if the deals are relevant, engaging, and easily accessible, so brands should start implementing the tips outlined above to cross the New Year's finish line with bigger, better sales numbers.