The Singles' Day () or Double 11 (), originally called Bachelors' Day, is a Chinese unofficial holiday and shopping season that celebrates people who are not in a relationship. The date, 11 November (11/11), was chosen because the numeral 1 resembles a bare stick (), which is Chinese Internet slang for an unmarried man who does not add 'branches' to the

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

. The four '1's also abstractly refer to the demographic group of single people. Ironically, the holiday has become a popular date on which to celebrate relationships: more than 4,000 couples got married in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on this date in 2011, far greater than the daily average of 700 marriages. Originally, the date was celebrated as a cynical response to traditional couple-centric festivals by a small group of college bachelors. However, in 2009 Alibaba's CEO Daniel Zhang began to use the day as a 24-hour shopping holiday festival that offered online shopping discounts and offline entertainment. The holiday has now become the largest physical retail and

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" o ...

shopping day in the world. Rivals of Alibaba, such as

JD.com JD.com, Inc., also known as Jingdong (), internationally known as Joybuy and formerly called 360buy,

hosts Singles' Day festival as well, which garnered US$19.1 billion, bringing the Chinese total to US$44.5 billion total sales volume in 2017. Alibaba shoppers exceeded 213.5 billion yuan (

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

30.7 billion) in total spend during 2018 Singles Day. In 2019, Alibaba said that its

gross merchandise volume Gross merchandise volume (alternatively gross merchandise value or GMV) is a term used in online retailing to indicate a total sales monetary-value (e.g. in U.S. dollars or Euros) for merchandise sold through a particular marketplace over a certai ...

for the whole event came in at 268.4 billion yuan (US$38.4 billion), an increase of 26% from the previous year. In 2021, Alibaba and JD reached a new combined Singles Day sales record of US$139 billion. In 2022, both Alibaba and JD.com for the first time did not disclose the Singles' Day sales results as China continues to face macroeconomic headwinds and zero-

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

challenges. However, Alibaba said its results were "in line with 021'sGMV performance," while JD.com said it set a record-breaking Singles' Day event.

Origins

The Singles' Day, or Bachelors' Day, originated at

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xian ...

in 1993. Singles' Day celebrations spread to several other universities in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

during the 1990s. 11 November (11/11), consisting of four 1's, was chosen as it represents four singles. There are several ideas explaining the creation of the Singles' Day festival. The most widely accepted idea is that the holiday grew out of Nanjing University's dorm culture. One origin story is that in 1993, four male students of Nanjing University's Mingcaowuzhu (all single men) dorm discussed how they could break away from the monotony of being single and agreed that 11 November would be a day of events and celebrations in honor of being single. These activities spread through the university and eventually made their way into wider society. The spread increased with social media use, and the event has become increasingly popular within contemporary Chinese culture and society.

Description

Singles' Day serves as an occasion for single people to meet and for parties to be organized. The holiday was initially only celebrated by young men, hence the initial name Bachelors' Day. However, it is now widely celebrated by both sexes. Blind date parties are popular on this day, in an attempt to alter the single status of the participants. Some universities organize special programs to gather singles together for the celebration. Singles may take on an annoyed or self-deprecating attitude in response to remaining single as a university student, but university initiatives have helped curb that negativity. Although this date is meant to celebrate singlehood, the desire to find a spouse or partner is often expressed by young Chinese people on this date, while other love-related issues are discussed by the Chinese media.

Shopping

The event is not an officially recognized public holiday in China, although it has become the largest

offline In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...

and

shopping day in the world. Sales in Alibaba's e-commerce websites,

Tmall Tmall (), formerly Taobao Mall, is a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail, spun off from Taobao, operated in China by Alibaba Group. It is a platform for local Chinese and international businesses to sell brand-n ...

and

Taobao Taobao () is a Chinese online shopping platform. It is headquartered in Hangzhou and is owned by Alibaba. According to Alexa rank, it is the eighth most-visited website globally in 2021. Taobao.com was registered on April 21, 2003 by Alibaba ...

, have reached US$5.8 billion in 2013, US$9.3 billion in 2014, US$14.3 billion in 2015, US$17.8 billion in 2016, and over US$25.4 billion in 2017.

JD.com JD.com, Inc., also known as Jingdong (), internationally known as Joybuy and formerly called 360buy,

also achieved a sales record of US$19.1 billion in 2017, while

Lazada Lazada Group ( t/a Lazada) is an international e-commerce company and one of the largest e-commerce operators in Southeast Asia, with over 10,000 third-party sellers as of November 2014, and 50 million annual active buyers as of September 2019. ...

drums up US$123 million. As more people join in the celebration of this holiday, many companies have taken the opportunity to target younger consumers including businesses such as restaurants,

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

parlors, and online shopping malls. For example, the Chinese online shopping mall

sold goods worth 19 billion CNY (about US$3 billion) on 11 November 2012. On Singles' Day 2017, Alibaba set a world record for most payment transactions during the festival. Its mobile wallet app

Alipay Alipay () is a third-party mobile and online payment platform, established in Hangzhou, China in February 2004 by Alibaba Group and its founder Jack Ma. In 2015, Alipay moved its headquarters to Pudong, Shanghai, although its parent compan ...

processed 256,000 payment transactions per second. A total of 1.48 billion transactions were processed by Alipay in the entire 24 hours, with delivery orders through

Cainiao Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited (), formerly known as China Smart Logistics Network, is a Chinese logistics company launched by Alibaba Group, jointly with eight other companies, on 28 May 2013. As of May 2018, Cainiao was one of the la ...

(Alibaba's logistics affiliate) reaching close to 700 million, breaking the previous record set in 2016. The event is now nearly four times the size of America's biggest shopping days, Black Friday and

Cyber Monday Cyber Monday is a marketing term for e-commerce transactions on the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It was created by retailers to encourage people to shop online. The term was coined by Ellen Davis of the National Retail Fe ...

Cultural Events

Singles' day have come to also represent as a cultural event. Alibaba usually hosts large celebratory festivals on the night before its biggest shopping day and have featured global celebrities including

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

in 2017,

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

at Alibaba's Shanghai gala in 2019, and Katy Perry performing in a livestream in 2020. Not merely a shopping event but the holiday is also a day when people can party to socialize and meet other people, as well as practising traditions that celebrate the single life. 2011 marked the Singles Day of the Century (Chinese pinyin: ''Shiji Guanggun Jie'') as this date had six "ones" rather than four, increasing the significance of the occasion. In 2011, an above-average number of marital celebrations occurred in Hong Kong and Beijing on 11 November.

Symbolism

The following symbolism has been associated with the special date: * 1: the digit 1 symbolizes an individual, a single person. * 11: two individuals finding each other and being together on one side of the special date (11.11). * 2 x (11): a celebration of two or more couples, each comprising two single individuals finding each other on the special date (11.11).

Outside China

Singles' Day has since been popularized through the internet and is now observed at several places outside of China as well. The holiday has particularly grown in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

, with customers in the

's Southeast Asian marketplaces ordering 6.5 million items in 2017. In

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, for example, 11 November is dubbed "Harbolnas" (National Online Shopping Day), and large discounts are offered by major online retailers. It previously took place on 12 December. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Single's Day, also called National Singles Day, is celebrated on 11 March. It was initiated by a group of internationally recognised dating experts in order to help singles either embrace their single status or 'do something about it'.

MediaMarkt Media Markt is a German multinational chain of stores selling consumer electronics with over 1000 stores in Europe. With chain of stores Saturn it constitutes Media-Saturn Holding, owned by the retail company Ceconomy, which was demerged from ...

, a German company, promotes Singles' Day in their stores. Belgian MediaMarkt also participates, but reactions have been negative, as 11 November is the anniversary of the

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

that ended

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and the day is associated with somber commemoration of the war dead in Belgium. In 2016, Swedish electronics retailer

Elgiganten Elgiganten is a consumer electronics retailer operating in Denmark (including Greenland) and Sweden, where its parent Elkjøp operates in Norway and have subsidiaries like Gigantti ( Finland), Elko ( Iceland) and Elding (Faroe Islands). Th ...

promoted a Singles Day campaign in Norway before implementing it in the other Nordic countries the following year.

Trademarks

The term "双十一" (Double 11) was trademarked in China by Alibaba Group on 28 December 2012, under registration numbers 10136470 and 10136420. In October 2014, Alibaba threatened legal action against media outlets that accept advertising from competitors that use this term.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Creative Singles Day
Marriage in Chinese culture November observances Public holidays in China Unofficial observances 1990s neologisms Autumn events in China