Singles’ Day and Click Frenzy – 2019 Results

Last week two of the most prominent retail events on the APAC calendar took place, Singles’ Day and Click Frenzy. Each year the anticipation for the Chinese mega event and the Australian sale that stop a nation grows with consumers waiting eagerly to secure some of the biggest promotions of the year.

In fact, new research from Rakuten Marketing shows that consumers in Australia and South Korea categorise themselves as “holiday shoppers”, who start purchasing gifts once November hits. Consumers in China classify themselves as ‘sporadic shoppers’, buying throughout the year, while Singaporean’s are predominately driven by deals and bargains.

Whether you’re a holiday or sporadic shopper, or a bargain hunter, November retail events such as Singles’ Day and Click Frenzy present a ripe opportunity.  So, with the two events falling in the same week, how did Singles’ Day and Click Frenzy 2019 fare?

Singles’ Day
Singles’ Day once again was a record-breaking event delivering US$1billion worth of sales in the first minute and US$12billion in the first hour. Throughout the day, the event eclipsed the US$30.8billion spent in 2018 to deliver US$38.4billion, or RMB268.4 billion in 24-hours.

With sales up 26% from 2018, this year more than 200,000 participating brands launched more than a million new products. Taylor Swift performed, and Kim Kardashian did a live-stream of her KKW fragrance.

Orders driven via the Rakuten Marketing affiliate network experience 83% Year-on-Year (YoY) growth, clicks increased 159%, and the event drove an average-order-value (AOV) of $149.21.

Breaking down the data to examine where consumers are shopping, desktop and laptop were used for 53% of orders and 54% of sales and had an AOV of $162.93. Mobile was responsible for driving half of all clicks (50%), 45% of orders and sales and had an AOV of $161.05.

Based on retail data across markets that Rakuten Marketing operates in, the Apparel & Accessories vertical drove the highest number of orders (43%). This was followed by Department Stores (26%); Beauty & Personal Care (9%); Footwear (8%); and Luxury (6%).

Orders outside of China were primarily driven by consumers in Australia (26%), Singapore (15%) and South Korea (11%).

 Click Frenzy
Click Frenzy has become a mainstay on the Australian retail calendar and with more brands and affiliate publishers leveraging the countries homegrown Cyber Monday than ever before the event continues to go from strength to strength.

Affiliate orders made via the Rakuten Marketing network increased 54% from Click Frenzy 2018. Clicks increased by an exponential 246% and the AOV for the 12^th and 13^th of November 2019 was $133.85.

Over the two-days, clicks were 38% higher on Tuesday the 12^th of November then Wednesday the 13^th. On average consumers were spending $135.83 per order on Tuesday was $135.83, and $131.88 per order on Wednesday. More orders (33%) were placed on the first day of the event.

Desktop and laptops were the devices of choice for consumers during Click Frenzy driving 65% of all clicks, 58% of orders and 62% of sales. Consumers spent more per order (AOV $142.62) when shopping via desktop and laptop.

Mobile devices contributed to 33% of all clicks, 40% of orders and 36% of sales. Tablet drove just shy of 2% of all clicks, orders and sales, though had a slightly higher AOV of $126.43 then mobile ($122.29).

During Click Frenzy, Rakuten Marketing retail data shows that the Apparel & Accessories category was popular with consumers, accounting for 39% of orders. Department stores contributed to 27% of orders and footwear drove 8%.

Speaking about last week’s APAC events, MD of International at Rakuten Marketing, Anthony Capano commented, “Consumers across APAC are now conditioned to anticipate some of the biggest sales of the year during Singles’ Day and Click Frenzy. More so than ever before they are leveraging strong November promotions for purchasing heavily discounted gifts for the holidays.”

Capano also highlights the importance of taking a global approach to local events. “This year, we’ve seen a growth in consumers across Asia-Pacific participating in events traditionally targeted to the Chinese and Australian markets. For retailers, this provides endless opportunity to reach consumers throughout the region at a time when they are highly engaged and looking to purchase.”

Want to know how your brand can optimise retail events? Visit rakutenmarketing.com and speak to an expert today!