Singles' Day is so big, it's suicide for retailers not to be involved

IN China, shoppers have been counting down to Singles' Day on Nov 11 - an annual online shopping fiesta that in six years has gone from a virtual non-event to a retail blockbuster phenomenon.

This year, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is forecasting a record-breaking US$20 billion in sales - up from the US$14.3 billion spent on its Tmall and Taobao sites in 2015. To put that in perspective, the largest sales days in the US, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, saw combined sales of a comparatively paltry US$5.8 billion last year.

Although other Chinese e-retailers such as JD.com have jumped on the bandwagon, Alibaba is the driving force behind the Singles' Day phenomenon, rebranding the event "The 11/11 Global Shopping Festival".