Perry, Craig and Williams performed at the Singles’ Day gala, hosted by renowned tech company Alibaba. With nearly $75 billion in sales in 2020, it is by far the largest retail event in the world.
The festival promises to generate a significant turnover again this year. Yet this Singles’ Day will be different than usual.
Common Prosperity
Companies like Alibaba are under pressure from the Chinese government. A new wind is blowing in the country, called ‘common prosperity’. It is a term introduced by leader Xi Jinping this summer.
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Xi believes that the Chinese should place less importance on material things like Nike shoes and more on moving the whole country forward. He also wants wealth to be distributed more fairly. And if the leader announces such a thing, you as a company respond to it.
Alibaba said last week that the festival is not just about sales figures. The company promises to become more sustainable, of course under the heading of ‘common prosperity’. In the coming years, the company pledges to invest more than $15 billion in projects that reduce inequality in China.
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No international pop stars will show up this year. And the sales figures will also have to be sung a little lower. The message has clearly reached the Chinese tech giants. If the government wants you to behave a certain way, you will.
It’s a shame for the pop stars who were able to piggyback on the success of the bargain gala until recently, but the time of glitz and glamor in China is over. And it may never come back.
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What is Singles’ Day?
Unlike an event like Black Friday in the United States, where customers lie in front of the shops in the early hours to be the first to get the bargains, you experience Singles’ Day almost exclusively on your smartphone.
It works like this. In the run-up to Singles’ Day, you can see what the bargains of the year will be on Chinese web stores such as Alibaba and JD.com. Big brands like Nike and Xiaomi often give big discounts on new products. You can then order those products with a discount on Singles’ Day. Singles’ Day is also becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands, especially among younger shoppers.
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