The ‘No Buzz’ Alibaba Singles Day 2022 Update
As (primarily) a Retail & Consumer industry professional, I have tracked the developments at Alibaba Singles Day ever since it started in 2009. I used to share my notes (and reference articles) earlier within my industry circles – to not only highlight the wow developments, but also to get inspired by the Consumer Digital Transformation that emerged with each edition. With an Outside In lens, we covered it in 2020 as well as 2021 as a multi-part series here:
2020
Preparations 2020:
Unilever Strategy for 11:11:
Impressions 2020:
2021
Chronicles Part 1:
Chronicles Part 2:
Chronicles Part 3:
Compared to these extensive pieces of coverage earlier – totally deriving from the consumer extravaganza that was at play, the mood in 2022 at Alibaba itself is subdued and there’s barely any buzz about the ‘Festival’ anywhere
Possibly only a strong follower like me is tracking it this year – I am literally writing this entry on 11:11 – but I think I do not have really much to write about. There’s not much ‘transformational stuff’ coverage for me to synthesize and curate for our community. It is literally a ‘No Buzz’ Alibaba Singles Day 2022 update this time… Sorry… But, let’s see if we can find some interesting takeaways…
2022 Highlights
290,000: brands from around the world participating in Singles Day. During the first hour of this year’s check-out period, 102 brands recorded GMV over RMB100 million. Of which, over 40% were International Brands
100,000: new products being launched by 200 new luxury brands on TMall’s Luxury Pavilion
Subdued Sales: 4.7% decline in sales for the first 12 hours of Singles Day (11/11). By the end of day, however, 2022 GMV was in line with previous year i.e. $84.54 billion. During the festival, 1,009 Tmall Global brands’ GMV more than doubled year-on-year
Better Discounts: Alibaba buyers get an RMB 50 ($6.8) discount for every RMB 300 spent across its stores, the deepest discount in recent years, compared to an RMB 30 discount for every RMB 200 spent last year
There was no usual celebrity-studded gala show, to play down the hype around the Event
11/11 is the most powerful engine for their merchants’ customer growth every year. Transforming consumer awareness into customer loyalty is key to generating the best ROI. During the presale period from October 24 to 31, brands on Tmall gained in excess of 66 million new members. On November 1, 82 brands surpassed RMB 100 million in GMV generated from their members. More than 4,000 brands saw their member-led GMV more than double year-on-year, and brand members contributed more than 50% of the GMV for 2,700 prominent brands
“Treasure Hunting” on Taobao is part of their daily life. During this year’s 11/11 Global Shopping Festival, Alibaba has combined shopping, fun, and entertainment all into one. Consumers are invited to try out some new features, such as Virtual Marketplace and Picture Search on Alibaba’s shopping apps, Taobao and Tmall
Virtual Humans are becoming the New Normal, for a generation of young Internet Users in China: Check the evolutionary Vimeo video here at:
For the first time in years, 11/11 was Not headlined by its two mega ‘Livestreaming’ sales stars – Li Jiaqi and Viya, known respectively as China's livestreaming sales king and queen, who sold everything from lipstick to rocket launchers on Taobao Live
In a futuristic example of the all-out push, Alibaba dispatched over 700 autonomous delivery robots, called Xiaomanlv or “Little Donkey” in Mandarin, twice as many as last year
2022 Takeaways
Focus on Loyalty Programs & Member Sales: With sales failing to impress, companies and brands are trying to use the shopping extravaganza to reach and lock in customers in the long-run by offering lucrative loyalty programs. Brands such as Nike and Unilever are already running brand loyalty programs through their Tmall Stores. 82 brands surpassed RMB100 million in GMV, all of which was generated by their Members – during the Presale Period
AER (Attract, Engage and Retain) via Loyalty: For Alibaba, brand loyalty memberships have become a key focus, as membership allows brands to interact most directly with consumers and, for some, ensure a higher degree of certainty over sales during and beyond the Singles Day Event. Alibaba has been preparing for loyalty membership mechanisms for years. In 2018, they established an ecosystem-wide loyalty program called 88VIP, giving members a 5% discount on more than 300 branded products and other membership privileges across Alibaba’s platforms. It requires only 100 Yuan (around $13) in annual purchases to join and it now has over 25 million members with an annual average spend of more than RMB 57,000
Livestreaming Still Going Strong as a Concept: 600% increase in views were recorded by Taobao in the first hour of the first sales video this year, suggesting that livestreaming is still going strong without the two celebrity streamers. Live-streaming channels of Estée Lauder, La Mer and Lancôme each surpassed RMB$100 million in GMV within four hours of the first sales window in the Presales
Livestreaming Influencers ‘Portfolio’: Most brands are experimenting with a "portfolio approach" tapping different anchors – but not expecting the same results, as Li & Viya. For Example: Sweaty Betty China – the active-wear brand – planned to use only "one or two" livestream hosts this Singles Day season and that it was starting to work with much smaller and more sports-focused livestreamers
Increased Usage of Virtual Influencers & AR/VR Ecosystems: Business units across Alibaba’s ecosystem are using augmented reality, extended reality and virtual influencers to transform online shopping
Virtual Humans as Staff: Brands are using digital humans for a variety of use cases like livestreaming sales agents and customer service associates
Picture Search: Users can search with a photo – there’s no tedious text description needed – and it links to the PDP page instantly
Digital 3D Stores for Marketing Campaigns: Alibaba has also integrated new technologies, such as a virtual shopping avenue, which provides consumers with an immersive 3D online space to view 3D displays of their favourite brands. Sanrio, Universal Studio and Kakao Friends are all set to open next-generation flagship stores in this 3D digital space. Alibaba’s Digital influencers Ayayi and Noah are working as brand ambassadors to help retailers build brand profiles and amass followings among China’s digitally-native consumers. Ayayi has partnered with over 30 high-end brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Prada, to create Marketing Campaigns
In Conclusion
As part of an evolving Singles Day extravaganza in 2022, online retailers are banking on rich content and community interaction to provide that sticky and distinctive consumer pull. Loyalty winners are already emerging; propelled not just by their membership programs but by various other strengths that vary by brand, including unique products and hard-to-match experiences
Brands are pivoting from an exclusive focus on sales to also look at customer value. Over the long run, brand positioning and customer acquisition probably have greater value for the brand than sales alone, increasingly making this the goal for Singles’ Day
The ‘No Buzz’ Alibaba Singles Day 2022 Update still has immense Insights and Takeaways for everyone in the Retail and Consumer World…
References & Sources:
1) Subdued Sales & No Fanfare: https://www.reuters.com/technology/alibabas-singles-day-shopping-event-set-end-with-subdued-sales-no-fanfare-2022-11-10/
2) Risk in China’s Influencer Economy: https://www.luxurydaily.com/the-risk-in-chinas-huge-influencer-economy/
3) No Livestreaming Stars: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/singles-day-without-livestream-superhosts-leaves-alibaba-quandary-2022-10-24/
4) Customer Loyalty Focus: https://qz.com/china-s-singles-day-sellers-seek-long-term-customer-rel-1849766511
5) Loyalty Memberships: https://technode.com/2022/11/04/what-are-alibabas-strategies-on-livestreaming-and-loyalty-membership-programs-on-singles-day-2022/
6) Virtual Influencers: https://technode.com/2022/11/11/singles-day-2022-alibaba-brings-ar-vr-and-virtual-influencers-to-online-shopping/
7) Better Discounts: https://technode.com/2022/10/28/singles-day-2022-more-deals-and-more-competition-from-douyin/
8) AER via Loyalty: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/11/09/can-alibaba-drive-growth-singles-day-2022
9) Digital 3D Stores with Ayayi: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/11/09/can-alibaba-drive-growth-singles-day-2022
10) Singles Day – What’s Different: https://www.forbes.com/sites/franklavin/2022/11/07/singles-day-2022-whats-different/?sh=69c9a95f38cb
11) 2022 11/11 GMV Results: https://www.alizila.com/11-11-singles-day-double-11-gmv-results