- UK sales expected to reach almost 拢1.3bn over just one day
- Singles鈥� Day revenue already amounts to 15.1% of Black Friday鈥檚 weekend sales
- Yet only 16.5% of Brits are aware of the shopping event听
Despite most British shoppers having never heard of Singles鈥� Day, the shopping event (taking place this year on 11th听November) is听predicted to see almost 拢1.3bn in UK sales alone, according to a new report.
The听Shopping for听Christmas听2019听report, commissioned by听听and carried out by the Centre for Retail听Research (CRR), reveals that the听UK is forecast to have the highest Singles鈥� Day sales in Europe for the 24-hour discount event. Purchases with participating retailers such as Amazon, Sports Direct and ASOS, are expected to increase by 拢170m on last year to reach 拢1.29bn in 2019 – yet more than four in five shoppers (83.5%) have never heard of the day.
Originating from听Chinese corporation听Alibaba, the day was initially created for singletons in China to buy themselves gifts due to a surplus of men, a result of the one-child policy. Today, many consumers are embracing the discounts and buying themselves gifts regardless of their relationship status.
Forecasts for Singles Day 2019听(拢听millions):
| Country | Singles Day 2018 | Predicted听Singles Day 2019 | Increase 2018-19 | Increase听Actuals听2018-19 |
| UK | 拢1,114.60 | 拢1,285.2 | 13.0% | 拢170.6 |
| Germany | 拢1,047.35 | 拢1,167.1 | 16.0% | 拢119.8 |
| France | 拢873.94 | 拢987.5 | 15.6% | 拢113.6 |
| Italy | 拢475.58 | 拢524.8 | 6.7% | 拢49.2 |
| Spain | 拢311.16 | 拢345.2 | 9.5% | 拢34.0 |
| Netherlands | 拢168.26 | 拢183.4 | 12.3% | 拢15.1 |
| Belgium | 拢118.30 | 拢133.5 | 9.5% | 拢15.2 |
While Singles鈥� Day sales are increasing rapidly in Europe and North America year-on-year, awareness in Europe is still relatively low. It is highest in Germany, where 19.2% of shoppers have heard of the discount day, compared with 16.5% in the UK.
Anita Naik, Lifestyle Editor at听听commented:鈥�淪ceptics may consider the awareness of Singles鈥� Day to be relatively low, but Black Friday was not-so-long-ago viewed apprehensively by British shoppers as an American tradition. It has since grown into a monumental discount event, taking in sales of over 拢8.57bn in the UK alone in 2018.听This year鈥檚 Singles鈥� Day sales are expected to amount to 15.1% of Black Friday鈥檚 total weekend revenue, but considering the years of hype around Black Friday, this is an impressive figure for a fairly unknown event.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see another day of discounts happening in the UK, where people can make savings on their purchases. Shoppers should keep an eye out for deals across their favourite brands, from XBOX and PlayStation to Superdrug and New Look, and sign up to alerts to make sure they don鈥檛 miss out.鈥�
