Singles Day falls on November 11 every year, a date written as 11.11: four ones standing side by side. The next one is on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, and the live countdown above shows how many days, hours and minutes remain. What started as a joke among university students in China has grown into one of the biggest online shopping events in the world.
Why November 11?
In Chinese internet slang the digit 1 looks like a bare stick, a stand-in for someone who is single. With four of them in a row, 11/11 became the obvious date to celebrate being unattached. The day is usually traced back to students at Nanjing University in 1993, who marked it with dorm gatherings as a lighthearted alternative to Valentine’s Day. Over the following years it spread to other campuses and into wider society, with group dinners, parties and blind dates organized for the occasion.
From campus joke to shopping festival
The turning point came in 2009, when the e-commerce giant Alibaba ran a 24-hour online sale on November 11. The idea caught on fast. Other platforms such as JD.com followed, and the day, also known in China as Double 11, turned into a huge retail event with livestreamed launches, flash deals and midnight countdowns. In recent years the sales period has stretched well beyond a single day, with pre-sales opening in October. Since 2022 the biggest platforms have stopped publishing headline sales totals, so treat any single figure you see quoted with caution.
Singles Day outside China
Retailers across Southeast Asia, Europe and beyond have borrowed the date for their own 11.11 promotions, and many international brands now run discounts for shoppers on global marketplaces. The date is shared with several other observances worth knowing about:
- Armistice Day in the UK and much of Europe, marked with a two-minute silence at 11 a.m. to remember those who died in war.
- Veterans Day in the United States, a federal holiday honoring everyone who has served in the armed forces.
- Pepero Day in South Korea, when friends and couples swap stick-shaped chocolate snacks.
How to make the most of 11.11
Whether you are hunting bargains or simply celebrating your own company, a little planning goes a long way:
- Build a wish list early and note current prices, so you can tell a real discount from an inflated ‘was’ price.
- Check delivery times, customs fees and return policies, especially when ordering from overseas sellers.
- Look out for vouchers and pre-sale deposits that unlock extra savings on the day itself.
- Set a budget before the clock hits midnight; flash deals are designed to rush you.
- Not shopping? Plan a dinner with single friends. That was the original point, after all.
Related shopping dates
Singles Day opens the year-end shopping season. Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrive a couple of weeks later, followed by the Christmas rush and the Boxing Day sales in the UK, Canada and Australia. You can follow all of them on Tempoo, create your own countdown for a product launch, or send this timer to friends who are filling their carts.