2021 Global Shopping Festival Insights: 4.5x Sales Growth in the UK and Top-Rated Products

One of the biggest global shopping festivals – Singles’ Day – took place from 11-13 of November. In the past, the Chinese marketplace usually dominated the celebration, but this year, more UK brands also joined the promotions. According to statistics provided by Admitad Affiliate network, this year, the number of sales of Chinese marketplaces in the UK has jumped by 3.8x compared to the regular period, and the value of orders has increased by 4.3x, setting a new record.

The Singles’ Day sale became a notable competitor to Black Friday in terms of sales volume. Note: Alibaba Group alone (which includes AliExpress) managed to make global sales of $84.5 billion this year. At the same time, growth has slowed down compared to previous years – in 2020 the Chinese giant reported that the number of orders doubled, but this year it has grown by only 8.5%.

Meanwhile, the average order value didn’t change a lot over the year – typically, Brits were ready to spend $13.1 on one order from the Chinese marketplace during the sale. Their item preferences remained almost the same as in the previous year. Only several of the most popular product categories switched their positions:

• Home and Garden – 28.3%
• Jewellery and Accessories – 21.9%
• Apparel and Footwear – 11.2%
• Health and Beauty – 8.7%
• Electronics and Home Appliances – 8.6%
• Toys and Hobbies – 7.6%
• Sports and Entertainment – 4%
• Others – 9.7%

Brands should pay attention to these trends because another important period is just around the corner – Black Friday. And these categories are quite likely to get similar sales shares during the upcoming sale.

It is of no surprise that it was only brands that had a chance to increase their profits, but also publishers (those who work with an online audience and traffic experts), who earned a reward for every completed order. For example, Admitad Affiliate publishers in the UK just in three active days of the sale on 11-13th of November increased incomes by 3.3x.

Let’s see how effective were different traffic sources in terms of attracting European clients:

The Global Shopping Festival proves again that many users are ready to spend more during sales. But people have slightly changed their preferences regarding product categories. The influence of the COVID-trends stars to vanish and people get back to their established interests. 

The insights from the November 11-13 sale will help brands and marketing experts prepare for the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. The most important thing would be to choose effective traffic sources and ensure the technical stability of your websites.