Dubai: A Chinese phenomenon that started as an ‘anti-Valentine’s Day’ for singles to enjoy shopping, the special November 11 sales has now become a global trend. 11.11 shopping day beats Black Friday, Boxing Day and other special occasion sales by the millions around the world.
Alibaba, the e-commerce giant, cashed in on the special day first in 2009. Since then the money spent and the discounts have only gotten bigger and better. This year, the South China Morning Post reported that Chinese customers alone spent $56 billion during the shopping bonanaza in just 10 days - the sales there started on November 1.
In the UAE, several retailers offer special deals for the day but most offers are online or via apps.
Amazon in UAE is offering special discounts through November 12 [starting November 10]. The deals range across product categories with up to 50 per cent off on appliances, daily goods and up to 70 per cent off on fashion items and watches on the platform. Noon also has up to 70 per cent off on all categories through November 12.
Namshi, a leading fashion retailer online, has a Buy 1, Get 1 free offer on several fashion items. Supermarket chain Carrefour also has some deals for the day which shoppers can check out online. Alibaba, the OG of the Singles Day sales, also has offers for international online customers through its shopping platform AliExpress.
Privilee, the lifestyle app that enables residents to enjoy unlimited access to the UAE beach resorts, private pools, gyms and fitness studios. For Singles Day UAE residents can purchase a month’s Privilee membership for the price of Dh999 instead of the usual price at Dh1,199.
Brands for Less also has a 24 hours sale on their website with up to 50 per cent in discounts and 15 per cent cashback on credit card purchases. They also have a clearance sale with up to 90 per cent off on retail prices for some product categories.
*Details have been taken from the websites of retailers. All deals and offers are subject to retailer terms and conditions. Gulf News is not responsible for any changes to this information or for losses resulting from such changes.
