Huge potential in a single day

AN annual day-long shopping event in China should eventually create as much business for Australia Post as Christmas, according to the new head of the postal service.

Australia Post chief Christine Holgate says the Singles Day shopping frenzy will grow to be a boon for Australian companies who export to China, and for the postal authority.

November 11 is a sombre day in Australia and other Commonwealth countries, but a day of shopping indulgence in China.

Also known as Bachelors Day, Singles Day reportedly originated at Nanjing University in the 1990s, borne out of the large number of single men created by the onechild policy.

It started as an “anti Valentine’s Day”, where single people splurged on presents for themselves, but has evolved into a widely observed shopping day.

November 11 was chosen because of the repetition of the digit “one” in the date.

Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba has engineered the day into an online shopping event that matches the hype of the blockbuster US shopping weekend bookended by Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Ms Holgate said that as businesses in Australia increasingly exported their wares to the growing Chinese middle classes, she expected the event should eventually be as big for Australia Post as Christmas.