Singles Day, Alibaba's annual shopping gala, is going to get bigger than ever. The Chinese e-commerce giant on Friday said that this year's event will see participation from more retailers that will make it the biggest shopping day ever.
The 24-hour-long shopping extravaganza, which made its debut in 2007, is held every year on November 11 and is bigger than Amazon's Prime Day. The event will kick off with a Taylor Swift concert that is likely to attract huge footfall.
More than 200,000 brands are expected to participate in this year's Singles Day, with a large number of retailers from the United States.
This year's edition of Singles Day is being touted as the largest single day shopping event not only of the year and is expected to generate more sales than Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Thanksgiving Day combined, according to Adobe Analytics.
Last year, Singles Day generated sales of $30 billion, while Adobe Analytics expects the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday will generate sales of $29 billion.
Alibiba's Singles Day isn't just an online shopping festival but also a high-on-glamour affair. The company makes it look like an elaborate affair with fashion shows and gigs.
More U.S. Brands to Participate This Year
Alibaba celebrates Singles Day as a day for those who are not in romantic relationships to pamper themselves by shopping online. The company started Singles Day with participation from 27 brands in 2007 that grew to 60,000 in 2017 and this year will exceed 200,000.
The company also said that sales figures are likely to see huge growth from last year's figures of $30 billion. Although, Prime Day is touted as one of the biggest annual shopping events, Singles Day has in the last couple of years surpassed Prime Day both in sales and revenues.
The whopping sales generated on this day has over the years lured an increasing number of U.S. retailers, who have been struggling in their own territory with slowing sales in the last couple of years.
Moreover, American and European brands have a huge demand in China that has seen many big brands opening shop in that country.
According to Adobe Analytics, around 24% U.S. retailers are likely to run promotions on this year's Singles Day. Major brands like Apple and Estee Lauder are some of the big global brands that will be participating in this year's Singles Day.
