(CTN NEWS) – The tradition of celebrating being single on November 11th, known as Singles’ Day, is thought to have originated among male students at Nanjing University in the 1990s.
Ironically, what began as a celebration of anti-Day Valentine’s for singles has evolved into a day when people show their love for a spouse in China and has rapidly expanded into a crazed, worldwide shopping frenzy in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Check out these additional fascinating details on this historic day:
1. It is the Biggest Annual E-commerce Shopping Event in the Globe.
Jack Ma, the creator of Alibaba and its affiliate Tmall.com, transformed Singles’ Day into an annual, significantly discounted online shopping extravaganza in 2009 that began at midnight on November 11 and lasted 24 hours.
The most popular sales are cosmetics, clothing, food and beverages, autos, and household goods. The day produces more sales than Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday combined.
In 2012, Ma even copyrighted the Chinese name for “Double 11” because to the booming business.
2. The Meaning of Singles’ Day
The Chinese name for Singles’ Day, Guanggun Jie, Guānggùn Jié or Kuang-kun chieh.
Single Sticks Day or Bare Branch Day is the literal meaning.
3. Let’s Tie the Knot
Although November 11 is an unofficial holiday for Singles, it has also grown in popularity as a day for couples to get married and bid singlehood farewell. More than 4,000 couples were reportedly married in Beijing on Singles’ Day in 2011.
4. Singles’ Snack
The traditional Singles Day food is yóutiáo, which is deep-fried twisted dough sticks that are also suitably formed.
Pepero Day, observed on November 11 in South Korea, is commemorated similarly to Valentine’s Day by friends and family exchanging chocolate-covered sticks as a token of love.
It is referred to as Pocky Day in Japan. To give as gifts to their loved ones, some people even make their own Pocky and Pepero!
5. Singapore’s Singles Day
Southeast Asia has already seen the successful launch of Singles’ Day via Lazada, Shopee, Qoo100, and other platforms.
Numerous websites, stores, and even services like GrabFood and insurance firms have jumped on the trend in Singapore and are now offering online and in-person discounts.
6. Excessive e-traffic
Due to the enormous volume of e-transactions occurring simultaneously every second around the world on Singles Day, website crashes are frequent. a definite no-no!
Because of how serious it is, even one minute of website downtime can cause the brand to suffer staggering losses in sales and goodwill.
RELATED CTN NEWS:
Mumbai: Confirmed Measles Outbreak In Govandi
Qatar Workers’ Safety at risk as World Cup Spotlight Dims
Japan Hosts a Multilateral Display of Naval Unity Amid Tensions in East Asia
