Singles’ Day marketing ideas for online retailers targeting Asia

Singles’ Day, or 11/11, has grown from a quirky celebration in China to the world’s biggest online shopping event. In 2024 alone, it generated 1.44 trillion yuan (roughly US$203.6 billion) in transactions across major platforms, a 27% year-on-year rise, according to Infobip. Compare this to the estimated US$25 billion of retail sales on Prime Day, or the estimated US$75 billion for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. For 2025, Singles’ Day has expanded into a five-week campaign, highlighting its shift from a flash sale into a season-long retail opportunity.

For online retailers targeting Asian markets, preparation can no longer be last-minute. To compete effectively in this high-stakes shopping period, you need a plan that balances creativity, cultural fluency, and platform-readiness.

Singles’ Day 2025: Key takeaways for online retailers

• Start early. Build interest before November 11 with teasers, waitlists, and social engagement. Keep in mind that Singles Day is no longer a single shopping day, it is a solid 5 week sales event.
• Think local. Tailor your message, visuals, and offers by region. What works in China won’t always land in Indonesia.
• Offer more than discounts. Bundle, gamify, reward loyalty, and use symbolic offers (like 11% off) to create emotional engagement.
• Prepare for scale. Technical readiness, checkout speed, and local payment options are deal-breakers during traffic peaks.
• Plan beyond the sale. Retention tactics should be baked into your campaign from the beginning.
  
  

What is Singles’ Day and why it matters for ecommerce

Singles’ Day began at Nanjing University in the 1990s, with four number ones (11/11) symbolising single life. It became a commercial juggernaut when Alibaba turned it into a national shopping event in 2009. It now surpasses Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined in scale, intent, and reach.

While Western events focus on gifting, Singles’ Day is rooted in self-gifting. This distinction changes how shoppers behave and what messages resonate. In 2025, the global nature of Singles’ Day is clearer than ever, with platforms like JD.com reporting a 20% increase in active buyers and Alibaba noting record-breaking participation.

Understanding the Singles’ Day shopper in Asia

Today’s Singles’ Day buyer is:

• Mobile-first
• Highly social and influenced by peers and creators
• Motivated by discounts, but increasingly experience-led
• Expecting personalisation, gamified UX, fast delivery, and flexible payment
  
  

This is not a one-size-fits-all audience. In China, the purchasing journey is often driven by livestreams, KOLs (key opinion leaders), and loyalty ecosystems tied to platforms like Taobao and Tmall. Meanwhile, in Southeast Asia, buyers rely more on mobile-first marketplaces, super apps, and flash deal alerts shared via messaging platforms.

In both cases, expectations are high. Consumers want to feel in control of their journey. They expect checkout in their language, in their local currency, and using the payment method they prefer. They also expect real-time updates, fast delivery, and access to social proof, from ratings to influencer reviews.

The "treat yourself" mentality is growing, especially among Gen Z and urban millennials. Singles’ Day is becoming less about filling a cart with cheap goods and more about indulging smartly. That might mean a luxury skincare set at 11% off, a mid-tier smartphone upgrade, or a seasonal subscription they wouldn't usually buy.

While China leads the market, Southeast Asia is rising fast. Shoppers in Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand are leaning into the 11/11 wave, contributing to the region's ecommerce growth across a combined GDP of US$3 trillion.

For retailers, the key is to meet these shoppers where they are with the right mix of relevance, convenience, and respect for how they like to browse and buy.

Singles’ Day marketing strategies that drive sales in 2025

Relying solely on deep discounts can damage margins. A smarter approach blends urgency, symbolism, and brand storytelling to drive action without excessive markdowns. Below are tested marketing campaigns you can use to make 11/11 work harder for your business:

Singles’ Day 2025 is about more than cutting prices. Use tactics like these to create layered offers that reflect your brand, reward your customers, and support your commercial goals.

Pre-event warm-up: Build hype before 11/11

Waiting until the last week of October puts you behind. The most effective marketers treat Singles’ Day like a season and start warming up audiences weeks in advance. Early exposure not only increases awareness but also helps shape intent. Think of it as nurturing a buying mindset, not just promoting a discount.

Use this phase to:

• Partner with influencers to tease limited releases or back-in-stock bestsellers
• Launch countdowns and waitlists that generate exclusivity
• Activate email and SMS flows tailored to returning buyers and high-intent visitors
• Use retargeting on social and search to show sneak peeks, reviews, and price alerts
  
  

Brands doing this well don’t just sell products, they build anticipation. A teaser video, a mystery offer preview, or a "first to know" email can be enough to turn browsers into planners. This lead-in also allows you to test messaging and offers, refine ad targeting, and gauge demand signals ahead of peak days.

Early engagement is one of the best predictors of Singles’ Day performance. And for markets like Southeast Asia, where mobile open rates are high and impulse buying is common, getting in early often means getting the sale.

Gamification and interactive shopping experiences

Gamification has become a core feature of how consumers in Asia engage with Singles’ Day. It blends entertainment with utility, offering shoppers a sense of discovery, competition, and reward all in service of higher engagement and stronger conversions.

Gamified mechanics that increase engagement and AOV:

• Run spin-to-win wheels, timed quizzes, or gift reveals to unlock personalised discounts
• Host livestreams through TikTok, Taobao Live or LazLive with exclusive pricing, bundle drops and limited-time codes
• Encourage UGC by inviting shoppers to share unboxing moments, before/after transformations, or campaign hashtag challenges
• Launch interactive product discovery flows, like style finders, quizzes, or AI-based recommendations to guide buyers toward the right products
  
  

Shoppers want to feel part of something. That could mean logging in daily to reveal a new reward, earning a badge for completing a set of challenges, or entering a lucky draw tied to a purchase. Done right, these mechanics fuel repeat visits and turn casual interest into habit.

In China, livestreams are the centrepiece of this strategy. In 2024, over 60 million hours of livestream shopping were viewed during Singles’ Day. Southeast Asian platforms are quickly catching up as livestream infrastructure improves and local creators gain commercial traction.

Whether it's a mini-game, an influencer-hosted Q&A, or a limited-edition drop previewed via livestream, interactive experiences should sit alongside traditional deals. They enrich the event, stretch session time, and create deeper connection between your brand and its audience.

Optimising your e-commerce store for peak performance

To handle Singles' Day traffic:

• Prioritise mobile optimisation - The majority of shoppers across Asia browse and buy via mobile. Your store must load quickly, display clearly on all screen sizes, and offer an intuitive touch experience. Cluttered layouts, small buttons, or forced desktop views are instant drop-off triggers.
• Ensure site speed and stability under load High volumes of concurrent visitors are the norm during Singles’ Day. In 2025 Singles Day sales kicked off on Tmall and Taobao at 8pm on Monday, October 20th, and Alibaba reported that 80 brands each hit a mind boggling $14M of sales in the first hour! To prepare for traffic spikes you must use stress testing, caching, and auto-scaling infrastructure to avoid downtime. A slow-loading checkout or 404 error in a flash deal window means lost sales and negative sentiment.
• Offer local payment methods and multi-language support If buyers can’t pay the way they prefer, or if the interface is confusing due to language gaps, they’ll abandon. Support popular digital wallets like GCash, Touch’n Go, and DANA. Localise currency, address fields, and confirmation messages for clarity and confidence.
• Enable one-click checkout and relevant product suggestions Reduce friction by making repeat purchases as fast as possible. One-click options, saved details, and fast guest checkout all reduce drop-off. Smart product recommendations help raise cart value without overwhelming the shopper with too many choices.
  
  

For returning users, reward loyalty with VIP pricing or early access. Use checkout to cross-sell or upsell based on purchase behaviour, and consider post-checkout nudges to re-engage buyers through referral offers or limited re-purchase discounts.

Marketplace and product listing optimisation

On platforms like Tmall, Shopee, or Lazada:

• Use high-quality images and keyword-rich titles
• Align offers with platform trends (e.g. 11-day countdowns)
• Set clear shipping expectations and thresholds
• Track inventory in real-time to avoid stockouts
  
  

In 2024, over 300,000 brands participated in Singles' Day, with 45 of them surpassing 1 billion yuan (US$139M) each. This level of competition underscores the importance of well-optimised listings.

Top performers typically combined sharp visual storytelling, keyword alignment with platform search trends, and precise inventory control to give them greater visibility, shopper confidence, and ultimately, a larger share of consumer spend.

Omnichannel marketing for Singles’ Day success

A strong Singles’ Day campaign doesn't live in just one channel. Buyers interact with your brand across multiple platforms and devices. An omnichannel strategy makes sure those touchpoints work together, not against each other.

Create a seamless experience across all touchpoints:

• Coordinate messaging across web, email, SMS, and social Campaigns should feel connected, not duplicated. A deal teased on Instagram should be findable in your app and confirmed in your email. Use consistent visuals, language, and offer logic to keep users anchored.
• Use push notifications to highlight short-lived offers During Singles’ Day, buyers expect alerts for flash sales, expiring coupons, or bundle drops. Mobile push notifications give you real-time access to their attention, but should be timed carefully to avoid fatigue.
• Retarget users based on behaviour and preferences Whether it's abandoned carts, product views, or prior purchase behaviour, dynamic retargeting helps personalise offers and re-engage visitors who need an extra nudge. This is especially powerful when paired with countdowns or low-stock signals.
• Collaborate with creators to boost discoverability Influencers often act as distribution channels and trust builders. Their posts, livestreams, and content can drive awareness and credibility, particularly when the campaign message stays consistent across your owned channels.
  
  

Effective omnichannel execution can feel invisible to the user, but it creates a sense of flow that reduces friction, reinforces urgency, and makes it easier for someone to buy, no matter where they start or return to.

Post-event engagement and customer retention

After 11 November, don’t go quiet. Singles’ Day is just the start of a longer relationship. Brands that stay visible after the sale build trust, create habits, and increase the likelihood of repeat purchases before year-end.

Here’s how to turn your 11/11 shoppers into long-term customers:

• Send thank-you emails and collect reviews Gratitude reinforces a positive brand impression. Follow up with a personalised thank-you message and an easy way to leave a review. This creates a sense of closure and signals that their input matters.
• Trigger loyalty rewards or limited-time offers - Offer incentives to return within a set time frame . Whether it’s a follow-up voucher, early access to December offers, or bonus loyalty points. Encourage a second purchase while you're still top of mind.
• Re-engage buyers with new launches or upcoming events Use Singles’ Day purchase behaviour to shape your next recommendation. Show them what’s new, trending, or complementary to what they just bought. Keep them looped into product drops or holiday campaigns.
• Analyse campaign performance to refine next year’s approach Look beyond GMV. Break down which channels converted best, which bundles performed, and where cart drop-offs occurred. Feed those insights into your Q1 planning and start building next year’s Singles’ Day playbook early.
  
  

Many shoppers who buy on Singles’ Day don’t need to be convinced to buy again. They just need a reason, a reminder, and a friction-free path back. Post-event nurturing turns a high-traffic moment into a high-value customer lifecycle.

Expanding Singles’ Day beyond China

Retailers entering or scaling in Asia must localise:

• Be sure to offer popular regional payment methods like GCash (Philippines), GrabPay (Singapore), and DANA (Indonesia)
• Translate and adapt campaigns by country
• Consider cultural preferences in offers, timings, and messages
  
  

Antom supports over 250 local payment methods and provides multi-currency settlement, helping you offer a native checkout experience across Asia.