“Singles Day,” the shopping event breaking records in Asia every year, is now coming to the Netherlands, thanks to bol.com. On November 11, the brand will create a new Dutch holiday in its online store – one where people are encouraged to treat themselves.
“We can tell by online search results that people in the Netherlands are becoming more and more interested in Singles Day," said Huub Vermeulen, Brand President of bol.com. "It combines the continued need for good deals with the recognition that we need to treat ourselves well. Bol.com has had a lot of success introducing Black Friday to our customers in the past and we expect Singles Day to be just as popular.”
Bol.com is positioning Singles Day as “The holiday for you” and, in the Dutch way, is making it a party for everyone, single or not, with the motto “I love me.” The brand has tailored the holiday to the needs of Dutch customers and will offer thousands of great discounts in categories such as makeup, perfume, jewelry, electronics, books and DVDs. During the countdown to November 11, customers have already had a taste of the event with an exciting deal each day.
Dr. Cor Molenaar, an economist and professor of e-Marketing at Rotterdam’s Erasmus University, says the holiday has significant potential. "Bol.com is the forerunner in embracing such shopping trends and putting their own spin on them to adapt them to the local market," he said. "I expect that Singles Day will be of great economic value for the Netherlands in a number of years. Ultimately other retailers in the country will benefit from bol.com having introduced the world’s biggest shopping event to the Dutch market.”
Click here for Cor Molenaar's vlog about Singles Day.
Singles Day started in 1993 when four students from Nanjing University in China celebrated being single on November 11, a date that is shown numerically as four ones (11-11). It became an annual festival for the entire campus, and soon afterwards a phenomenon throughout China, where singles celebrated with dinners out and parties. In 2009 came the turning point, when Asia’s online stores introduced super shopping deals for everyone. If Singles Day was an economy, it would be the 11th biggest in the world!
Read the Dutch bol.com press release here.
