By Choi Sung-jin
Sixteen point five trillion won. That is the amount of daily sales recorded by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba on Nov. 11, the so-called Singles Day. The one-day turnover is about eight times larger than Lotte Duty Free Store's annual sales of 1.98 trillion won ($1.26 billion) in 2014.
It shows how the Double-11 Day has emerged as the world's largest shopping festival since it debuted six years ago - and what the Korean government and businesses should learn from the Chinese for their successful benchmarking.
Korea also held massive discount shopping events from August to October, named Korea Grand Sale and Korean Black Friday. It also plans to open a K-Sale Day event Nov. 20, which will run through Dec. 15, officials said. These discount shopping events reflect the desperation of domestic retailers, who say they are ready to do anything to get out of the business slump.
Some retailers enjoyed a mini-boom during the recent events but for most the outcome was disappointing, industry sources said.
To repeat China's success, if to a smaller extent, the government and business officials should remember "three points," experts said. First, they should start to prepare for a large discount sales event a year before its opening day. Alibaba put 100,000 employees on the 11/11 event, and made preparations for three months. As a result, it could sell 6 million items supplied by 40,000 brands from 30,000 companies, experts said.
Second, if K-Sale Day only fattens the pockets of large retailers of department stores and superstores, as was the case with the previous two events, it will end up as a half-success at best. The government should help vendors in traditional markets and smaller manufacturers take part in the event. Government officials say they plan to provide 4 billion won as a marketing subsidy and issue gift certificates worth 100 billion won for the clients of traditional markets. Department stores also ought to lower their profit targets a little to help reduce the burden on their suppliers, the experts said.
Third, vendors should widen the discount to 50 percent or more of original prices to stimulate consumption, as the Chinese company did Wednesday. And they also need to shift the items from fashion and food to more expensive, durable goods such as high-priced TV sets and laptops. "Just as Samsung and LG put TVs and refrigerators at half their price tags in the U.S. market during the Black Friday event, they ought to do the same during the domestic event," a local distributor said.
Sixteen point five trillion won. That is the amount of daily sales recorded by Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba on Nov. 11, the so-called Singles Day. The one-day turnover is about eight times larger than Lotte Duty Free Store's annual sales of 1.98 trillion won ($1.26 billion) in 2014.
It shows how the Double-11 Day has emerged as the world's largest shopping festival since it debuted six years ago - and what the Korean government and businesses should learn from the Chinese for their successful benchmarking.
Korea also held massive discount shopping events from August to October, named Korea Grand Sale and Korean Black Friday. It also plans to open a K-Sale Day event Nov. 20, which will run through Dec. 15, officials said. These discount shopping events reflect the desperation of domestic retailers, who say they are ready to do anything to get out of the business slump.
Some retailers enjoyed a mini-boom during the recent events but for most the outcome was disappointing, industry sources said.
To repeat China's success, if to a smaller extent, the government and business officials should remember "three points," experts said. First, they should start to prepare for a large discount sales event a year before its opening day. Alibaba put 100,000 employees on the 11/11 event, and made preparations for three months. As a result, it could sell 6 million items supplied by 40,000 brands from 30,000 companies, experts said.
Second, if K-Sale Day only fattens the pockets of large retailers of department stores and superstores, as was the case with the previous two events, it will end up as a half-success at best. The government should help vendors in traditional markets and smaller manufacturers take part in the event. Government officials say they plan to provide 4 billion won as a marketing subsidy and issue gift certificates worth 100 billion won for the clients of traditional markets. Department stores also ought to lower their profit targets a little to help reduce the burden on their suppliers, the experts said.
Third, vendors should widen the discount to 50 percent or more of original prices to stimulate consumption, as the Chinese company did Wednesday. And they also need to shift the items from fashion and food to more expensive, durable goods such as high-priced TV sets and laptops. "Just as Samsung and LG put TVs and refrigerators at half their price tags in the U.S. market during the Black Friday event, they ought to do the same during the domestic event," a local distributor said.
