‘Singles Day’ in China has gained immense popularity in recent years, with e-commerce players making quick bucks on the back of heavy discounts and promotions to lure solitary souls. Also known as anti-Valentine’s Day, the date 11.11 depicts those who are single (read: Time for China ETFs?).

The young Chinese binge on this popular occasion making it the world’s busiest online shopping day. In fact, Singles Day is now much bigger than Cyber Monday and Black Friday with 80% more online sales in 2014. This year too, Singles Day is set to be bigger than ever, surpassing stellar sales records of last year, as per KPMG.

Clothing and accessories, cosmetics and personal care, household products, home electrical appliances as well as food and beverages are the most popular categories that generally enjoy higher sales in this online shopping festival.

Singles Day: A Revenue Booster

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (BABA) turned into the biggest 24-hour cyber spending blitz worldwide six years ago. Alibaba hit a record $9.3 billion in sales last year versus $5.8 billion in 2013 and $3.1 billion in 2012. One analyst, SunTrust, expects Alibaba sales to reach $12 billion this year (read: Alibaba ETFs Set to Surge on Blockbuster Q2 Results).

This year, the company has 50% more participating vendors from around the world and 30,000 brands offering more than six million products through its various online shopping platforms, including Tmall, Taobao Marketplace, group-buying site Juhuasan and the AliExpress global retail site.

JD.com (JD) is bolstering its sales and promotion on the day to give stiff competition to Alibaba. It is expecting sales to double from the last year. Other e-commerce firms like Baidu (BIDU), Jumei International (JMEI) and Vipshop Holdings (VIPS) will also offer huge discounts and expect a high sales volume on the day.

Courier services are also expected to rise with the surge in e-commerce business. So logistics giants such as SF Express, STO, and YTO should also be on the list of gainers.

How to Play

E-commerce players have a tradition of enjoying a huge rally on the Singles Day shopping fervor. Investors seeking to tap “Single Day” benefits in a diversified way should focus on the following four ETFs that provide substantial exposure to the Chinese e-commerce or retail segment.

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