Over the past 24 hours, a number of articles have popped up comparing Singles' Day with Amazon Prime Day. The comparison seems strange, with the two days addressing completely different consumer behaviour needs, writes Hannes Ben, Chief International Officer at Forward3D Group, exclusively for RetailTechNews.

There is no denying that Alibaba’s numbers are impressive. On Singles' Day, it reported a world record for transactions, with 256,000 happening per second in 2017, and over 1.48 billion processed over 24 hours.

Meanwhile Amazon reported a 60% growth of sales year-on-year during its Prime Day event in July.

But can we accurately compare two equally important e-commerce dates, from opposite sides of the globe? There are a couple of things to consider.

Alibaba benefits from the cultural history of Single’s Day

It seems difficult to compare two events that seem polar opposites. Although singles day seemed to be adopted as a way for large companies to promote their e-commerce offering, it was the cultural significance that has made it such a success.

The date was chosen as it contains four ‘ones’ (11.11) and therefore celebrated the individual. It was rumoured to originally have started in the mid 90s in universities throughout China, where people celebrated being single.

A number of major online retailers, including Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao, have capitalised on the date, and they are credited for making Singles' Day the popular e-commerce event that it is today. They have slightly altered the meaning, and encourage consumers to celebrate their individuality by purchasing items for themselves.

It’s worth noting that Singles' Day is unlikely to ever take hold in the UK or many commonwealth countries because it falls on Armistice Day and it may seem bad taste to promote mass consumerism on such an occasion.

Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Day purely signifies an anniversary for Amazon. The lack of cultural relevance means that consumers do not feel an emotional connection with the date, and it is less of a celebration. However, their sales are still hugely impressive, and consumers clearly feel that it is an important date in their shopping calendar. 

Global significance is important

Anyone outside the industry will most likely be unaware of Alibaba’s significance in Asia. Their market is so niche, and its UX caters specifically for the Asian market, which in turn restricts its ability to be able to expand effectively into new regions.

This is where Amazon thrives. Its business model has allowed it to grow exponentially over the past few years, and its Prime offering is now available in over 244 countries across the globe. There is no doubt that its global presence is important. Amazon’s brand is well known, more importantly it is trusted by consumers. It is the biggest e-commerce business in a number of regions.

Amazon has the potential to duplicate the cultural attachment to Singles' Day, by creating an emotional attachment between consumers and the brand. They do this by constantly increasing their offering, from groceries to video content, where they are slowly integrating themselves into everyday lives of consumers. The brand then becomes vital to the consumer. 

It’s important to look at PPP as well as GDP

When comparing the data, it’s important to not only look at Amazon’s presence in the US, but also look at the other areas it operates in. The combination of these countries shows a completely different picture.

Alibaba may be seen as the company with the biggest market, but this is estimated by the population of China (1.39 billion) rather than looking at a more accurate measurement, such as a comparison with the gross domestic product (GDP) or estimate based on purchasing power parity (PPP).  The International Monetary Fund estimates this as USD$23,122,027 for China. Also, if you look at the spending population of China, this will be much lower than 1.39 billion.

When comparing Alibaba to Amazon, it seems fair to include Amazon’s four biggest markets, to give a more accurate comparison. This would include combining the GDP including PPP of the United States (USD$19,362,129), Germany (USD$4,149,573), United Kingdom (USD$2,880,254) and Japan (USD$5,405,072).

In well advanced Western states, where Amazon dominates, the percentage of people achieving the average GDP and PPP is much higher than China. Just looking at the figures, it may look like Amazon is struggling to compete, when this is definitely not the case.

For brands, what does this all mean?

If you are looking to target young, on-trend consumers with luxury items within the Chinese market, Singles' Day and Alibaba are the perfect pair. This is a hugely important market for luxury retailers, and they can capitalise on Alibaba’s unrivalled presence in the Chinese market. Singles' Day is unlikely to take off in the UK.

However, we can no longer ignore the power of Amazon. The international brand’s recognition and its reach can hugely benefit brands. Days like Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday will undoubtedly result in huge spikes in sales. By using Amazon, brands have the ability to reach consumers across the globe, using its distribution network that has contributed to growth.

Brands should not be writing off Amazon because the statistics for Singles' Day seem so high. Alibaba is important, but does not have the monopoly on the global market.