Neiman Marcus store entrance
A host of retailers are working with Dealmoon.com to get in on the largest Chinese shopping day of the year.
Although lesser-known in the United States than Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Singles' Day’s $9 billion revenue last year made it the largest shopping day of the year for the second time in a row. Getting in on the “celebration” will give the retailers clear spikes in sales for the day and could help position them better to global markets.
“The holiday is about retail therapy --- treating yourself – but since the deals are so tantalizing, they buy for friends and family as well,” said Jennifer Wang, co-founder and CMO of Dealmoon.com. “Black Friday was also ‘invented’ to encourage shopping for the holiday season.
“As wealth grew in China, Alibaba saw an opportunity to creating a ‘shopping holiday,’ so they started it on Taobao.com with 50 percent discounts on that day,” she said.
Don't put a ring on it
Singles' Day was created by students of Nanjing University in China in the early 1990s as a reaction against cultural pressure to be in a relationship. The date was chosen because of the four 1’s in Nov. 11.
Although the day is sometimes thought of as an antithesis to Valentine’s Day and for people to purchase presents for themselves, it has since exploded, crossing both genders and including non-single people as well. This year, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's will partake for the first time.
![Dealmoon logo[2]](https://www.luxurydaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Dealmoon-logo2-e1447101762968.jpg){kind=logo}
Dealmoon logo
Although Dealmoon is not well known in the United States, it receives more than 13 million monthly viewers. The site publishes luxury brand deals in Chinese and in English.
The partnership offers a luxury retailer a chance to take in some of the potentially $10 billion or more in sales and introduce consumers in China and elsewhere to its brand. Given the vast revenue generated by tourists, particularly Chinese travelers, in luxury, building those relationships now could pay dividends in the future.
However, even if a push to the Asia Pacific market seems too distant, expensive or difficult at the moment, getting in on Singles' Day is still a way to reach out to a consumer segment that takes the day very seriously.
Dealmoon.com Singles' Day offers
“We are constantly testing new ways to connect with our customers,” said Ginger Reeder, vice president of corporate communications at Neiman Marcus Group, Dallas. “For a select group of people, Singles' Day is a very important day to focus on rewarding yourself.
“The offer we have created with one of our advertising partners is not a reflection of a larger strategy,” she said.
Others may not be able to reach the Chinese consumer base yet, but the expansion of Singles' Day makes it a worthwhile endeavor nevertheless.
Dealmoon beauty ads
“We hope to enable ways for customers to shop on their terms and affiliate programs help us reach customers,” said Dan Evans, Jr., spokesperson for Nordstrom, Seattle. “We are participating with a few of our favorite beauty brands for Singles' Day. While we offer free shipping, free returns all the time, we do not ship to China."
Retailers would not want to lose consumers to competitors because they did not know that it was a “shopping holiday.” Perhaps for this reason and because of last year’s breakthrough many luxury retailers are participating for the first time.
“Singles' Day is definitely becoming a topic of conversation in the U.S.,” Dealmoon's Ms. Wang said. “Retailers are very much paying attention to the holiday and savvy retailers have been providing offers for a few years now.
![Dealmoon Singles Day Overview jpeg[1]](https://www.luxurydaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Dealmoon-Singles-Day-Overview-jpeg1.jpg)
Singles Day promotion
“This year, the depth and breadth of offers is unprecedented; the Singles' Day event on Dealmoon will bring 3 million people to our site, as there are 150+ exclusive offers from all the high end department stores and brands,” she said.
“Being that Singles' Day sales in 2014 almost quadrupled Cyber Monday ($9 billion versus $2.65 billion), this may be the ‘tipping point’ for the general U.S. audience to take notice."
Lastly, Singles' Day offers retailers a chance to gauge response to potential Black Friday or Cyber Monday offerings.
"Singles' Day is a fantastic opportunity for luxury retailers to ‘test’ their Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers before the actual day," Ms. Wang said. "Listing deals on Dealmoon brings them a lot of exposure without paying for advertising.
"Also, it's a good time to do clearance on overstocked items," she said. "Some brands don’t do discounts, but offer amazing gifts with purchase or store credit with purchase."
Across the sea
Retailers are being asked with increasing frequency to stay aware of the calendar in China.
For example, an influx of Chinese tourists traveled last month during Golden Week, arriving with an intent to spend.
This year, Golden Week began on Oct. 1, putting it close to Chinese National Day and spurring increased interest in venturing beyond nearby Hong Kong to destinations such as New York, London and Paris. Capturing sales during this important shopping holiday depends greatly on the interactions brands have with consumers, making catered customer service a top priority (see story).
Dealmoon sample deals
Reaching the Chinese consumer online or in the west could help prepare a brand for an expansion into the country.
The Chinese market is complex and ever-evolving, requiring international luxury brands to practice patience and due diligence if they want to enter and remain successful in this environment, according to a report by CR Retail.
While some retailers are quick to blame China’s anti-graft measures for their lack of success in the industry, ultimately failure is often the result of lack of research and an inability to understand the complexities of the market. In order to be successful in China, luxury brands must adapt to consumer preferences and target retail and marketing strategies to appeal to the Chinese consumer (see story).
"Chinese are the largest purchasers of high-end beauty products in the world," Dealmoon's Ms. Wang said. "Before we started this foray into the mainstream U.S. market, our demographic was solely Chinese-Americans.
"We have more than 13 million voracious shoppers who come to our site monthly and we have already been serving up this incredible traffic for some of the world’s top luxury brands since 2009," she said.
Final Take
Forrest Cardamenis, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York