PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are eagerly awaiting the once-in-a-year opportunity that falls on Nov 11 to seize the bountiful bargains offered by the shopping phenomenon known as Singles’ Day, or Double 11, the world’s largest online shopping event.
Singles’ Day started in 1993 at Nanjing University, China, as a day for students to celebrate their singlehood as a counter to Valentine’s Day.Never one to let a good opportunity slip by, Jack Ma’s Alibaba transformed the holiday in 2009 from an “anti-Valentine’s Day” for Chinese singletons into the “11.11” global shopping festival that we know today.
The shopping extravaganza has been expanding globally over the years with online retailers offering Singles’ Day sales in the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.In Malaysia, popular shopping platforms like Shopee and Lazada are touting 11.11 as “The Biggest Sale of the Year”, ramping up promotions in the run up to Singles Day, offering big discounts on a host of items.
Sri Haree Natarajan said he spent about RM700 buying various items on Singles’ Day last year. “This year, I’m willing to spend RM500 to buy electronics products. I think prices are cheap, and discount vouchers are plentiful,” he said.“I willing to spend RM400 to buy make-up products. I think products are especially cheap on 11.11, and I get many free vouchers as well,” she said, adding that most of her purchases are done on Shopee.
He said SMEs can leverage on Singles’ Day – a big shopping day – to introduce new products and do bundled deals. He revealed that Fomca received 280 complaints on Singles’ Day 2022. “Many of the complaints raised were due to misleading information, misleading advertisements, and faulty products,” he told FMT Business.