Singles’ Day sales in S’pore doubled from a year before: ShopBack’s data

SINGAPORE — Sales on Singles’ Day this year doubled in Singapore compared to 2017, with the average spending per shopper up by 36 per cent, data from e-commerce platform ShopBack showed on Monday (Nov 12).

On average, each shopper here spent S$190 — compared to S$140 a year ago — during the event, which fell on Nov 11 and originated from China.

Singles' Day, also called "Double 11", is the world's biggest online sales event, outstripping the sales of United States shopping holidays Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, which created the 24-hour online retail frenzy a decade ago, cashed a record 213.5 billion yuan (S$42.3 billion) in sales this time. However, the group had said that the event’s annual growth of 27 per cent between this year and 2017 was the lowest registered to date.

Nevertheless, the data from ShopBack showed that in Singapore, the growth in total consumer spending on Singles’ Day has accelerated: The doubling of sales this year, followed a 74-per-cent increase in 2017 compared to the previous year.

ShopBack provides cash rebates for shoppers who buy items and book holidays on its platform from more than 500 merchant partners, including Airbnb, Lazada, Zalora and Shopee.

According to its data, the three most popular merchants during Singles’ Day were Shopee, Lazada and Qoo10 (in no particular order).

The categories which saw the highest number of sales were electronics, health and beauty as well as mother and baby.

The most popular electronic items bought by Singapore shoppers were the Nintendo Switch consoles and games, while beauty masks were most sought after in the health and beauty category. The top three travel destinations were Tokyo, Bangkok and Johor Bahru.