關于雙十一，這些事你不可不知

在美國，最受關注的網上購物節是每年11月感恩節后開業第一天——“黑色星期五”和此后第一個周一“網絡星期一”，但比起中國的“雙十一”，這兩天簡直是小巫見大巫。去年，“雙十一”一天出售的貨品就超過了“黑色星期五”和“網絡星期一”兩天銷量總和。

“雙十一”由阿里巴巴策劃組織，如今已成為全球最盛大的電商狂歡日。什么是“雙十一”？引發了哪些影響？以下是幾個常見問題。

何為“雙十一”？

中國人把“雙十一”又稱為光棍節，因為11月11日這個日子由數字一組成，隱含單身的意思。原本是單身人士過的節。但就像美國的松餅日和勞工日一樣，現在這天更像零售商的促銷活動日。

“雙十一”是怎么開始的？

“雙十一”最早出現在上世紀90年代中，但直到2009年，阿里巴巴為了推動零售商在電商平臺打折用來主打宣傳活動，“雙十一”才開始聞名于世。

和亞馬遜的會員日Prime Day有沒有關系？

沒什么關系。不過，亞馬遜首席執行官杰夫·貝佐斯顯然把“雙十一”當成了榜樣。和“雙十一”一樣，亞馬遜為期一天的會員日促銷也選在往常的銷售淡季。除了正常的節日推廣，亞馬遜對會員日也采取連篇累牘的廣告轟炸，由此在美國零售界獨占鰲頭。

在美國電商領域，Prime Day沒有敵手。據美國財經媒體CNBC估算，今年亞馬遜的Prime Day銷售額約為10億到22億美元。

“雙十一”整個活動只持續一天？

開玩笑，哪個成功的零售促銷活動不弄上十天半個月？今年“雙十一”三周前預售交易就開始了。

阿里巴巴到底賣了多少錢？

去年“雙十一”，阿里巴巴總銷售額178億美元，今年超越去年成績。今年還有酒商推出特惠活動，客戶只需在雙十一當天支付1.1111萬元人民幣（約合1673美元），以后每月都可享受送酒服務，持續一輩子。

讓我們用數據來直觀感受一下“雙十一”的巨大威力。阿里巴巴集團首席執行官張勇2015年曾在公司內部一篇博客中這樣描述：“2013年，我們一天的商品交易總額（GMV）是51.4億美元，現在一小時就能達到?！?

2015年的“雙十一”當天，第一個小時平均每秒訂單高達17.5萬筆。（財富中文網）

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday get all the attention in the U.S., China’s Singles Day puts them both to shame. Last year, more items were bought during the 24 hours of Singles Day than the entire combined Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the states.

The event, conceived and organized by Alibaba, is the biggest commerce day in the world. But what is Singles Day? And what has it spawned? Here are a few answers to commonly asked questions.

What is Singles Day about?

Call it the anti-Valentine’s Day. The date 11/11 is significant because of the solitary implications of the number 1. And it was originally meant for people who wanted to celebrate being single. Though, much like National Pancake Day and Labor Day, it has turned into more of a retail event.

How did it get started?

Singles Day first popped up in the mid-90s. But it really came into prominence in 2009, when Alibaba began using it as a tent pole event to promote retailer discounts on its e-commerce platforms.

Is it tied, somehow, to Amazon’s Prime Day?

Not specifically — though Jeff Bezos certainly used Singles Day as a model of success. Amazon’s one-day sales event, like Singles Day, takes place during a time where, previously, there was a lull in that retailer’s world. By focusing its marketing efforts on a single day, apart from the din of holiday advertising, it’s able to stand out from the pack.

Dollarwise, there’s no comparison. Amazon’s Prime Day netted somewhere between $1 billion and $2.2 billion this year, according to CNBC.

Is it just a one-day event?

Come on. Does any successful retail event not suffer from sprawl? Walk-up deals started appearing three weeks before the actual day this year.

How much money does Alibaba make?

Last year, Alibaba grossed $17.8 billion in sales on Singles Day. And it hopes to top that in 2017 with the offer of a lifetime supply of alcohol for just $1,673.

To put a number that big into perspective, here’s how Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang described it in 2015 on the company blog: “Back in 2013, $5.14 billion was our one-day GMV. Now we can achieve it in one hour.”

In the first hour of Singles’ Day that year, orders came in 175,000 per second.