Commentary: Don’t get suckered by the hype of 11.11
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Commentary: Don't get suckered by the hype of 11.11
The Alibaba-led annual Singles' Twenty-four hours shopping festival may be the globe'due south most profitable shopping twenty-four hours, but you lot don't necessarily take to contribute to their bottom line, says Karen Tee.
A screen shows the value of goods beingness transacted at Alibaba Group'due south xi.xi Singles' Day global shopping festival in Shanghai, Communist china, November eleven, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Aly Vocal)
11 Nov 2022 06:33AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 08:51AM)
SINGAPORE: Information technology's strange but truthful. Taylor Swift is the headlining deed for Alibaba'due south annual 11.eleven Countdown Gala this year.
If yous are wondering what an all-American pop star has to do with a Chinese online shopping bonanza, you are not alone. In fact, if you are wondering why a shopping effect needs to exist ushered in with a concert, I am with you likewise.
But first, a little background. Held on November 11, this annual retail extravaganza was initiated past the Chinese e-commerce behemothic in 2009.
It was originally conceived to piggyback on the Singles Day celebration in China - the numerals of this date resemble "bare sticks" which allude to unattached people - by encouraging consumers to treat themselves to various Alibaba deals, of form.
READ: Alibaba says Singles' Day sales hitting US$13b in first 60 minutes
Only in recent years, this shopping festival has morphed into a practically unrecognisable behemoth solely targeted at whipping up a buying frenzy.
In the days before the actual 24-hr event, shoppers are encouraged to collect coupons on Alibaba's diverse platforms, obsessively check apps and social media accounts for other promotions and fifty-fifty pre-load their shopping carts in apprehension of the day itself.
Every bit Taylor Swift would say: "This is exhausting!"
READ: Alibaba to resume Hong Kong listing plans as soon as November: Sources
GIMMICKS GALORE
It is besides contrived. Take for instance this Inaugural Gala, which has apparently been held on Nov 10 for a number of years but has been relatively unheard of outside Cathay until recently, more often than not considering Alibaba is attempting to marketplace xi.11 to a global audience.
READ: Commentary: Retail therapy won't repair your damaged sense of self-worth
Concluding year, model Miranda Kerr, songstress Mariah Carey, performance troupe Cirque du Soleil and various Asian popular stars peddled products and belted peculiarly written songs like "Buy, buy, buy" in between performing their hits.
This year, since the show was broadcast on various channels in the region, viewers got to melody in and gawk at the spectacle of celebrities hawking random stuff nobody ever knew they needed.
But laughable as these tactics may seem, money talks. Terminal yr, Alibaba surpassed its own record from the previous year with a gross merchandise volume of United states of america$30.viii billion, which outstripped the online revenues of the U.s.' biggest shopping days - Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Mon - combined.
So it is not surprising that fifty-fifty though practically nobody gives two hoots near a day that celebrates singlehood, legions of other retailers have happily jumped on the bandwagon, concocting increasingly elaborate promotional schemes.
Besides Alibaba (and the various platforms it owns, including Taobao, Tmall and Lazada), other major players including Shopee, Rakuten and JD.com are as well property multiple campaigns and conducting alive streaming sales.
The latter essentially means you volition need to buy within a sure short timeframe or the bargain will be no more than.
Smaller retailers too, want a piece of the pie. In Singapore, the 11.xi sales will happen both online and in-store beyond an entire gamut of retail categories ranging from dazzler, fashion, consumer goods and fifty-fifty insurance and travel.
BUYERS BEWARE
All this shopping madness is making me do one thing - I refuse to spend a unmarried cent on anything to do with 11.11.
Don't get me wrong, I love getting groceries delivered to my doorstep and stocking up on staples with a few taps of my iPhone.
And yes, I adore a good deal as much as the next person but this hoopla is just besides much.
First up, many of these shopping websites have terribly noisy layouts, which are a hurting to navigate.
They also stock a pasar malam jumble of items, then the user will have to possess supreme patience and a surplus of free time to sift through hundreds and possibly thousands of listings to pick one that they think best suits them.
The quality of some products are also questionable. The terminal time I used one of these sites was to procure plastic inflatable floats for a beach vacation.
Of the ii I eventually bought, one arrived used - I know this because at that place were repair patches over the bladder and however, it would not fully inflate.
Don't even become me started on the long shipping fourth dimension (I fabricated my buy more than a month before departure) and the inscrutable, bothersome render policy.
PS: I chose to cut my losses, snap a few pictures of the float for the 'gram and write off this purchase.
Add xi.11-style marketing pressure to these crowded marketplaces and all I feel is immense stress and confusion at having to figure out how to game the system to score the best discounts and ensure I secure the verbal products I want, if they take not already been snapped up already.
No cheers. I would rather salvage my time and spend a little extra at a later appointment for a improve experience.
BRICK AND MORTAR ii.0
We might rediscover the joy of shopping in the latest moving ridge of brick and mortar concepts. Despite the downturn in physical shopping in recent years, there are signs that things are irresolute.
The rising of experiential shopping, where shops offer an immersive, well-curated experience in beautifully designed environs, has the potential to make spending coin more fun than before.
READ: Commentary: In 2019, online marketplaces will modify the fashion you and the government shop
READ: Commentary: The future of Singapore e-commerce is in brick and mortar
For case, S Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster looks like an fine art gallery that only happens to stock some of the coolest sunglasses around.
At homegrown paper goods shop Bynd Artisan, you can customise your own notebook and get it bound and personalised by an artisan.
In fact, even online shops are beginning to make the move to physical spaces also. Both Taobao and homegrown clothing brand Love Bonito at present have offline stores.
In that location is an undeniable pleasure in browsing and admiring the design of a tangible, physical space and getting to really try an detail before ownership information technology.
Best of all, y'all tin can approximate the quality of the products with your own five senses instead of relying on strangely written production descriptions and low quality photographs.
And I will tell you, there is no marketing gimmick more constructive than offering a customer a glass of crisp, cold bubbly to sip on while perusing the wares on brandish.
I exercise not need to picket a Taylor Swift concert on screen. She can croon to me on Spotify.
Karen Tee is a freelance travel and lifestyle writer. Six years ago, people thought she was crazy to leave the security of her full-time job. Today, virtually want to know how she does it.
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