China’s Shanghai pins hopes on Double Five shopping event to boost post coronavirus economic recovery
- The Double Five shopping event is similar to the Singles’ Day sales event
- Chinese consumers spent US$2.2 billion in the city over the first 24 hours of last year’s festival
Last year, the Shanghai municipal government announced the shopping festival as a means to “boost consumer confidence and unleash the potential of consumer demand” as the city sought to keep businesses alive
Chinese consumers spent US$2.2 billion in the city over the first 24 hours of the festival, the Shanghai government said. For context, Adobe Analytics estimated that, across the entire United States, Americans spent US$34.4 billion over the recently formed “shopping week” that includes Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
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Amid pandemic, Chinese consumers spend US$74.1 billion during Singles’ Day online sales festival
Much like in China, pent-up consumer demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic may have been at play, as that was a 20.7 per cent increase from 2019.
Although the pandemic in China is largely under control, Double Five may be on its way to becoming a permanent fixture. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce called it a drive to boost “consumer spending in the wake of the country having effectively brought COVID-19 under control”.