The excitement around the shopping blitz, however, masks the challenges facing China’s online retailers such as Alibaba and JD.com, which are having to spend more as they compete for shoppers in a broader economy where growth is slowing.
“A lot of the lower hanging fruit has been picked and there’s increased competition for a share of consumer spending,” said Matthew Crabbe, Asia Pacific research director at Mintel.
He estimated Alibaba’s Singles Day sales growth would likely slow to around 20 percent. Online retailers were being forced to push offline as well as overseas to attract new shoppers, and the overall online retail market was close to “saturation.”
“They’re having to spill over out of the purely online realm into the wider consumer market,” Crabbe said.
This has sparked deals to buy bricks-and-mortar stores in China, and overseas tie-ups especially in Southeast Asia. Technology, too, has been key, with virtual reality dressing rooms and live fashion shows to attract shoppers to haute couture.
Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group, noted that brands were being more careful with the deals they have on offer this year to avoid “margins getting killed,” and were often asking for deposits in advance.
In previous years, most prices were often halved.
“I think prices seem high and I’m totally lost as to the rules (about discounts),” said Gao Wantong, 21, a student in Beijing, though he said he still plans to stay up until midnight.
Fu Wenyue, a 23-year-old dresser in Shanghai, said she had already spent around 4,000 yuan ($602.54) on clothes, cosmetics and kitchen utensils in pre-event sales, transactions ahead of the day which officially only go through once midnight strikes.
“I’ve bought some stuff already, but I haven’t finished shopping yet,” she said.
