What to expect from Singles’ Day 2025

With Alibaba’s Singles’ Day presale kicking off at 8pm this evening, I wanted to share some thoughts on WPIC’s expectations for the festival.

For those who don’t know, Singles’ Day is the largest shopping festival in the world, with 2024 sales eclipsing US$200 billion. Originally centered on November 11th, the festival now stretches over a month.

And for those who are in the know, you’d be aware that the importance of Singles’ Day has seemed to slip in recent years. Previously, it wasn’t uncommon for brands to post between 25-50% of their annual revenue during this festival alone, with consumers waiting until November 11th to cash in on discounts and load up on goods for the year. But now, the prevalence of discounts and promotions throughout the year has meant consumers buy more consistently throughout the year.

That said, the festival is still the biggest discounting window of the year and also a time for brands to launch new campaigns, products, etc.

A few things we’re looking out for this year:

We’re expecting modest but healthy growth this year — likely in the high single-digit to low double-digit range.

The consumer economy in China is solid overall, especially in discretionary categories related to experiences/wellness.

This is the first festival where AI will be widely deployed and used by both consumers and merchants — and expecting Alibaba to introduce some new tools later this week.

Looking forward to tracking the festival over the next month — and helping our brand partners post big revenue numbers!