Survey Reveals World’s Biggest Sale Day Event Flies Under The Radar In New Zealand

Despite Singles’ Day (11/11) being the biggest sale day in the world, according to a new PriceSpy survey, almost two thirds (63 per cent) of New Zealanders still have not heard of the global sale phenomenon;

Even though consumer interest is relatively low, the survey found awareness for the day is growing – up 13 per cent compared to three years ago (2021 vs 2018);

New Zealand retailers are recognising the growth opportunity Singles’ Day provides - pricing research from PriceSpy revealed the average discount on Singles’ Day last year almost equalled the average discount offered on Black Friday (19 per cent vs 20 per cent)

But PriceSpy says the key to shoppers securing good discounts is conducting price research

With six weeks to go until Christmas Day, Singles’ Day, the largest of the international flash sale events will take place globally on 11 November 2021.

Despite being cited the world’s biggest shopping day, with millions of people expected to take part and spend, a new PriceSpy commissioned survey found Singles’ Day is still relatively unknown in New Zealand, with almost two thirds of Kiwis (63 per cent) saying they have not heard of it.

What is Singles’ Day?

Singles' Day is a Chinese shopping day that originated as an unofficial holiday for bachelors. It’s also known as an ‘anti-Valentine’s Day’. The date was chosen because it includes all ones (11/11) as a nod to the ‘single’ element.

According to Queue-it, Singles’ Day sales in 2020 exceeded 74 billion USD, more than Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Amazon Prime Day combined*.

Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett, New Zealand country manager for PriceSpy, says: “Singles’ Day is by far the largest of the international sales events that take place annually across the last quarter of the year.

“To provide an example of the scale of Singles’ Day, last year the shopping extravaganza reportedly attracted 800 million shoppers* globally. Yet in New Zealand, the day is still flying under the radar, with our survey findings confirming just over a third (37 per cent) of Kiwis have heard of it.

“Even though Singles’ Day isn’t attracting the volume of shoppers other sales days draw in, such as Black Friday and Boxing Day, our survey insights suggest consumer interest is growing in New Zealand.”

For a third consecutive year, the PriceSpy survey found awareness for Singles’ Day increased, up four per cent year-on-year (2021 vs 2020) and 13 per cent respectively across the last three years (2021 vs 2018).

Liisa continues: “Consumer interest for Singles’ Day is still relatively low in New Zealand but awareness for the day is gradually rising. Whether it will grow to become that of Black Friday is still too early to tell but there’s definitely some scope.

“Retailers, it seems, have also recognised the growth potential for Singles’ Day, as our historical pricing data indicates good discounts were being offered to shopper last year, encouraging them to spend early and extend the pre-Christmas spending season even more.”

Historical pricing information from PriceSpy found five per cent of all products listed on its site on Singles’ Day 2020 provided a price drop equating to 10 per cent on more (11 November vs 1 November 2020). And of those items, the average price change was -19 per cent.

“Our figures suggest the number of products discounted on Black Friday last year far exceeded that of Singles’ Day. But when we look at the average price change, the findings between both events were very similar – of the items that dropped in price by 10 per cent or more, the average price change on Singles’ Day 2020 was -19 percent, whereas on Black Friday it was -20 per cent,” says Liisa.

“For those keen to do a spot of early Christmas gift buying, our pricing insights indicate shoppers may certainly be able to pick up some great Singles’ Day discounts. And based on our pricing analysis last year, the shopping categories that delivered the best average discounts across the products that were dropped in price by 10 per cent or more were games & consoles, phones & GPS and audio & video.”

Liisa concludes: “No matter consumers are looking to buy to put under the Christmas tree, we strongly suggest people carry out important price research as even across the most-popular items Kiwis were looking to buy on Singles’ Day last year, 20 per cent could be purchased for less on some of the other big sales days**.

“And if you find the product you’re looking to purchase has increased in price or isn’t offering a discount, simply set up a price alert via the website or PriceSpy app and this will automatically tell you when the price drops below a certain point.

“Shoppers who take some extra time to conduct price and product research are most likely to secure a bargain in the sales and avoid paying over the odds.”

Here are PriceSpy’s top predictions on most popular products and categories this Singles’ Day:

Most-popular products

1. Apple AirPods (2nd Generation) with Charging Case

2. Sony WH-1000XM4

3. Sony Playstation 5 (Digital Edition)

Most-popular shopping categories

1. Mobile Phones
2. Headphones
3. Game Consoles

Most-popular brands

1. Samsung
2. Apple
3. Sony

Download the PriceSpy app here.

www.pricespy.co.nz

Notes:

**PriceSpy pricing research

About PriceSpy

PriceSpy is a comprehensive price and product comparison service used by millions of consumers every month. It helps consumers find, discover, research and compare products.

PriceSpy has 108,000 indexed products, 1,730,000 indexed prices, 584,000 product ratings, 7,510 store ratings and 1183 stores. Providing a fully impartial comparison service for consumers and a deep depository of price data for retailers.

The PriceSpy app is available to download for free, via the App Store and Google Play.

Prisjaktlaunched in the year 2000 and is Sweden's largest price comparison service. The service is known in Sweden and Norway asPrisjakt, and in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand asPriceSpy.

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