For most of you Singles’ Day might be a new concept as this day is being celebrated in a few countries only in the last two decades or so. In this article, we aim to give you a brief overview of Singles’ Day, why and where it is celebrated, some interesting Iceland Singles’ Day offers that you can avail and all other relevant details about this day. After reading this article, you cannot help but make the most of this Singles’ Day by availing the exciting offers and discounts offered by most of the leading brands across the globe.

When is Singles Day?

In Iceland and all over the world, Singles Day is on Saturday November 11, 2023.

 

Meaning, origin and history

The concept of Singles’ Day was started in China in the year 1993. Some students of the Nanjing University chose to celebrate 11.11 as Singles’ Day or Bachelors’ Day. They chose this date because the 11 in the date and the 11 in the month denoted four single persons. These students wanted to celebrate their single status and freedom. So, they got together and had fun on this day.

Soon, this trend spread to other nearby universities as well before it took the entire country of China by storm. Today, Singles’ Day is considered as the Global Shopping Festival in this country because many online sites such as Alibaba and offline stores offer huge discounts on international luxury brands of products and services.

On February 14th, couples celebrate Valentine’s Day to express their love for one another. Singles’ Day was started by the Chinese students mainly to observe it as an Anti-Valentine’s Day and enjoy their single status. However, it soon started to be a festival in itself, where the singles became more focused on having a good time with their single friends and making the most of the offers than treating it as a day to hold a grudge against the committed couples.

China and Singapore are the two countries where Singles’ Day is celebrated with huge fervor. However, thanks to the huge popularity of the festival, in the 1990s, it started gaining popularity in other countries such as Iceland, the United Kingdom and other European nations. Since many international brands participate in the Singles’ Day festival in China & Singapore, the day became popular in the native countries of these brands as well.

In the early days of the 1990s, only the menfolk would get together with their single male friends and celebrate this day by shopping, traveling, watching movies, etc. However, in the recent past, we have also seen quite a lot of women celebrating Singles’ Day with great enthusiasm. Two or more women plan for an all women’s day on 11.11 every year. This is the time of the year when they shop till they drop, make the most use of flight & hotel discounts to fly to various places and spend quality time with their single friends.

If you are a man or woman planning to fly to Iceland anytime soon, you will be pleasantly surprised to know that there are interesting deals and discounts on many products and services that you cannot afford to miss. Keep reading to know more about them.

Interesting Singles’ Day deals in Iceland that you shouldn’t miss

Here are some interesting Singles’ Day Iceland offers  that will expire soon. So, make use of them right now to enjoy them while they last.

  1. If you live in the USA or Canada, you can visit Blue Lagoon Iceland’s website and get interesting deals as part of the 11.11 offers. Currently, this website offers around 30% off on 11 selected products. They are:
    • Silica Mud Mask
    • Algae Mask
    • Body Lotion
    • Mineral Face Exfoliator
    • Lava Scrub
    • Conditioner
    • Hydrating Cream
    • Mineral Mask
    • Shampoo
    • Hydrating Cream Broad Spectrum
    • Hair Mask
  1. Shop on iceland.co.uk to find exciting deals on groceries. Some interesting deals that are currently on are:
    • Select range of fresh & frozen foods, beverages and bakery items available for £1
    • Free delivery within 24 hours for a bill value of €35 or more
    • Exciting discounts and free goodies offered as part of its 7-Day Deal

 

  1. Book your day tours through Saga Travels and get up to 40% off as part of Singles’ Day Offers. Some tours that you can explore this way are:
    • 40% off on day tour to Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Dettifoss Waterfall, Diamond Circle Classic and Askja Caldera, when you type the promo code of SBC2019
    • Up to 25% off on day tours to Reykjavik, Akureyri and other local destinations, when you type of the promo code of HOLIDAY2019

 

  1. Travel deals of around £40000 off on certain tours from Intrepid Travel such as the following:
    • 6- Day Northern Lights Escape Tour that will take you to some of the best places in Iceland in a mini-coach; Limited period offer of €89702.
    • 6-Day Around Iceland Adventure, where you will get to witness the hot springs of Myvatn Nature Baths, glaciers of Vatnajokull National Park, whale-watching tours and Dettifloss Waterfalls, all at £105,858 per person. Hurry up soon as this offer will expire on 17th November 2019.

 

How is Singles’ Day celebrated like in Iceland and other parts of the world? What is quite special about this event? Let’s know more about the same in the following sections.

Activities, celebration & events

The main activity of Singles’ Day that falls on 11.11 every year is shopping. This is the best day of the year for shopaholics people shop till they drop during this day. Men and women keep waiting for 11.11 every year to purchase their favorite brand, because they get to pay at least 50% lesser on this product on 11.11 than other days.

Local and international brands have understood the huge popularity of Singles’ Day in the last few years. Therefore, they offer interesting deals on their products/services to attract a lot of customers and improve their sales figures. The popularity of this festival has extended beyond China and Singapore as well, thanks to the participation of international brands such as Calvin Klein, Adidas, Nike, Puma, etc.

This festival is considered to be a shopping holiday in most of the countries, with some brands offering the one-day flash sale of up to 80% on their products, whereas some conduct shopping offers for a week preceding 11.11, to rake in millions of customers. During the year 2011, Singles’ Day was even more special because the day was 11.11.11. The day had 6 “ones” instead of 4 “ones”. Therefore, the day witnessed thousands of marriages happening in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and other parts of the world, because people wanted to end their singlehood on this day.

The Chinese Golden Week national holiday falls in the month of October and the main holiday season of Christmas falls in the month of December. The online and retail market was usually dull in the month of November. However, this scene has changed ever since 1993. When singles started celebrating this day with a lot of enthusiasm, the Chinese online retail giant of Alibaba spotted a perfect opportunity to make this a grand event. Therefore, ever since 2009, Singles’ Day on 11.11 became a huge shopping holiday in China and Singapore. You can refer to the Statistics section in this article to know how big this day has become and how many millions in sales are being generated on this day every year.

Some of the activities that you can enjoy on Singles’ Day are the following:

  • Enjoying a day out with your single friends at a beauty parlor availing the discounts on the various packages such as hair spa, body massages and the like
  • Check out of the flight offers in your country on select destinations and take this chance to fly out at affordable rates with your single friends
  • Shop till you drop at the nearby shopping mall as there are interesting offers and discounts on international products or services; when you come back home, shop some more on online retail sites to get your last chance to shop for your favorite products before the offer expires

Gifts & top selling items for Singles’ Day

Singles’ Day is the day that you dedicate to yourself, for spending some me-time that you never get on your other busy days, pampering yourself with gifts that are available at interesting prices and so on. This is also a day when you think of thoughtful gifts for your single friends. According to a recently conducted survey, here are some of the most popular gifts that are bought by singles on Singles’ Day either for themselves or for their single friends:

  • Makeup products, especially facial cleaning brush
  • Eye shadows with matte finish from a luxury brand
  • Aromatic body oil that relaxes your body’
  • Interior decorative pieces for your home or your friends’ homes
  • Luxury-brand perfumes
  • Cashmere scarves or jackets
  • Cologne from a reputed brand
  • Latest trends of fashion, especially for women
  • Facial treatment kits to make your face glow
  • Interesting and artistic jewelry pieces
  • Eye masks that allow you to sleep when you are traveling
  • Scented candles to improve the ambiance of your room and your mood as well

From these options, it is quite evident that Singles’ Day is that day in Iceland and in other parts of the world on which people are interested in pampering themselves. If you want to know how to make your Singles’ Day more interesting than ever, you now know what you need to buy.

Important statistics of 2019 Singles’ Day

The fact that the sales figure during a 24-hour sale of Singles’ Day is almost four times more than what happens during the 24-hour sale on Black Friday explains how big a day Singles’ Day is! In the year 2009, Alibaba made the most of this day by offering excellent discounts on its products.

That first year itself, close to 27 merchants participated in the sale by offering interesting discounts on their products. As a result, Alibaba witnessed online sales worth $7 million! In the magical year of 2011, Singles Day’s sales went up by more than $650 million in the first year of 2009. The numbers only went on increasing and in the year 2017 while Alibaba recorded online sales worth $25.4 billion, another online Chinese giant, JD.com recorded sales worth $19.1 billion!

In the year 2018, Alibaba generated close to $30 billion worth of sales in just 24 hours in China, whereas the online sales that happen on Black Friday in the US generated close to $6.2 billion worth of sales.

The 2019 Singles’ Day saw Alibaba clocking online sales worth $38.3 billion, beating all records since 2009. However, the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma believed that the sales figures could have been better if the Singles’ Day hadn’t fallen on a Monday and if the Chinese Government had given at least half-a-day off for its workers to avail all the offers that were up on sale on Alibaba.

Conclusion

Now that you have got a fair idea about Singles’ Day in China and other parts of the world, you will be able to appreciate the festival better than ever. If you are in one of these parts of the world, ensure that you wait till 11.11 to buy your favorite products/ services, because you will never get these discounts ever again till the next year’s November 11th.

Of all the offers that are available for Singles’ Day, the ones that are most interesting are the ones that are available on flight and fashion. This is the best time of the year when you can add luxury brands of dresses to your wardrobe without burning a deep hole in your pocket. Also, certain airlines offer interesting deals on selected routes. These are never-before offers that are available for a particular travel period. All you need to do is to be alert of these offers and make the most of them to save a lot of money.

Now, Singles’ Day is not just about shopping for your favorite products at attractive prices, but also being watchful of the deals so that you can shop for the right product at the right time, before the deal gets expired.