After Singles’ Day, Chinese shoppers turn to Black Friday
Looking for cheaper products and a sense of uniqueness, Chinese shoppers are beginning to target Black Friday
Singles’ Day, the shopping event that makes Black Friday look like a yard sale
Two weeks later and they’re spending again, but this time not on domestic bestsellers. In recent years the US shopping festival Black Friday has become more popular in China as the desire for foreign brands grows.
Although we don’t have a specific figure for how much Chinese people spent on Black Friday, it’s definitely a small thing compared to Singles’ Day. In fact, Black Friday overall is tiny compared to Singles' Day, which is the biggest online shopping festival in the world.
There were Black Friday events hosted on Chinese ecommerce platforms where you can buy directly from popular overseas merchants. But international shopping sites are also favoured by Chinese buyers, as their relatively little-known brands provide a sense of uniqueness.
“Some luxury bags, clothes and watches can be so cheap on Black Friday,” said Qiqi Zhu, a professional overseas shopper, or so-called “daigou” in Chinese. “I usually get double or triple the number of customers during the Thanksgiving sale.”
Chinese cross-border ecommerce apps like Netease Kaola, Tmall International and JD Worldwide only cooperate with big brands, according to Zhu. “If you want to buy things that make you stand out from the crowd, you have to dig into foreign shopping sites.”
