Singles’ Day sales in China easily beat the US’s Black Friday when it comes to conspicuous consumerism Move over, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The world has a new shopping frenzy and it’s much, much bigger than either of these.Singles’ Day, the Chinese holiday celebrated on November 11, began humbly enough as an anti-Valentine’s Day celebration of lack of attachment. The date, 11/11, was chosen because the number "1" resembles an individual who is, well, alone.But since 2009, China’s e-commerce players have used the revelry to drum up online sales, effectively morphing Singles’ Day into an online shopping extravaganza in which people buy gifts for themselves.Alibaba, the so-called "Amazon of China", made sales of more than US$14bn in the 24-hour sale last year. This exceeds the $11.1bn spent online in the US over the five-day period from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, which includes Black Friday, when retailers officially kick off the festive trading season.The e-commerce giant’s c...
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