IDC: Vendors gear up for the Singles’ Day in China

Singles’ Day is a highly anticipated sales event in China, equivalent to that of the Black Friday in the west. While the actual sale is supposed to take place on 11 November (11.11, hence the name Singles’ Day), key eTailers such as JD.com, Tmall and Suning actually start their promotions from 1 November onwards. Competition is so intense that most device vendors have formed a marketing team just for this sale, and will be camping in the offices of Tmall and JD.com on 10/11 November so that they can make quick changes to their strategies to compete with other vendors.

Smartphones, notebooks, monitors, 2-in-1s, drones, smart robots and wearables are expected to be key products this year that will be most sought after by consumers. Vendors will also focus more on their technological capabilities in their marketing messages. Vendors will be using more interactive methods to reach out to consumers. Celebrity endorsers of various brands will be using live streaming to reach out to consumers and to market the brands during the Singles’ Day sale. CEOs of certain vendors are also expected to do the same in front of the camera.

Towards the end of October, vendors have already started offering the option of pre-orders for some of their items. This largely serves two purposes. Firstly, it helps vendors to get a gauge of the demand for their products to better manage their inventory. Additionally, this pre-order is only for a limited period of time and consumers may feel pressured to sign up for it to purchase the products. If consumers choose the pre-order option by paying a deposit in advance, they can secure the product at a low price during the sale.

With the market maturing, IDC expects the Average Selling Price (ASP) for devices during Singles Day to be higher than that of the previous year. As Xiaohan Tay, Senior Market Analyst, Client Devices Research, IDC Asia/Pacific, puts it: “Consumers are seen to have a greater need for better products and we expect them to be willing to pay more for these devices. Additionally, vendors are also marketing a wider variety of products, trying to push more mid- to high-end products and are seen moving away from the low-price competition as seen in the previous years. Other than what we have mentioned above, we expect competition among vendors to be intense this year and it will be interesting to see what other strategies they try to use to stand out from their competitors.“