Paysafe: How can Companies Profit by Jumping on the Singles Day Bandwagon

Oscar Nieboer, Chief Marketing Officer, Paysafe Group plc

Originating in China back in the ‘90s and celebrated on November 11^th every year, Singles Day, what was once upon a time a day to commemorate singledom, is rapidly growing as a global retail event.

The e-commerce platform that established the annual shopping event, Alibaba, generated $17.8 billion in sales last year, earning $5 billion within the first hour alone, and is set to hit a record of $23 billion this year In a few days, more than 30 British brands, including Burberry, New Look, Nike and Topshop among others, will take part in Singles Day through Tmall, an online Chinese retail platform. As its popularity continues to spread across continents, retailers should pre-empt how consumers will be approaching the final stage of a Singles Day purchase – the payment transaction. Ultimately, Singles Day promotions and initiatives may fall down unless the retailer involved is able to appeal to the way their customer wants to pay.

This is reflected in Paysafe’s recent Lost in Transaction research paper, which cites a lack of payment options as one of the main reasons for online shoppers abandoning their baskets (20%). With so many new payment options now on offer, it can be daunting for retailers to pinpoint the right methods, but considering the cultural context, attitudes to security and authentication, and economic circumstances in the markets in which they operate can be the difference between closing a successful sale, or losing out to a competitor.

Chinese customers favour paying via domestic payment platforms (18.9%), such as Alipay and WeChat’s mobile wallets, whereas the UK market continues to be dominated by credit and debit cards when paying online. However, technology has enabled payments to shift and shape very quickly and alternative payment methods continue to rise. For instance, five years ago, Bitcoin wasn’t in the mainstream, and now 12% of British shoppers are using cryptocurrencies to make payments, with 14% of UK businesses considering implementing the technology within two years. 

Businesses need to wise up. It is understanding these developments in payments and the subsequent evolution of customer preferences that truly gives merchants the power to capitalise on global events like Singles Day. In this respect, businesses have no more valuable asset than the expertise of PSPs who provide omnichannel solutions capable of anticipating change and ultimately helping merchants to thrive in a competitive environment.