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Alibaba, a Chinese multinational tech company, which has its name inspired from a popular folktale, was launched as a marketplace that would help small and medium-sized companies open the doors to a treasure: A world of products. Being one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies today, it sure has lived up to the inspiration, helping companies source products of nearly all kinds.
A global B2B marketplace, Alibaba is one of the first options that pops up in the mind of a new business-owner looking to source products in bulk for their business. With a vast range of products sold by an extensive list of manufacturers, it is a wholesale marketplace where the buyer can find the product they’re looking for, figure out the manufacturer that fits their requirement, and negotiate a price.
With such a crucial role to play in a business-owner’s life, it is pertinent to know about Alibaba’s sale calendar for the year and when they have discounts, so as to plan your own e-commerce strategy better. Alibaba sale events like Singles’ Day could help you get phenomenal bargains, and therefore knowing about it beforehand will help you plan better for your business.
A global marketplace that allows you to purchase the products that you require for your business in bulk while also allowing you to build a rapport with your suppliers, is one of the most crucial advantages of shopping on Alibaba. A key sale event simply sweetens the deal.
Alibaba has a savings spotlight page that helps you find the lowest prices in the last 180 days, where you can find the best deals of that time period. Apart from that, across the year, there are sale events with Alibaba products for sale, that you as a buyer can keep an eye out for. Massive sale events like Singles’ Day and 6.18 Mid-Year Shopping Festivals are key phases of the Alibaba sales calendar with several deals and promotions coming up across product categories.
Originally started by a few university students as a day dedicated for single people, November 11th or 11.11 became a nation-wide retail shopping festival. Alibaba started offering discounts on its products on that day, starting in 2009, and today, it is a huge shopping festival across China, with the spending overshadowing even that of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, in the US. With tons of discounts available on its C2C and B2C sites Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba.com also has deals and offers in place, for their B2B audience.
As a B2B platform, the offers for the various shopping festivals and sale events tend to be different and marketed differently, with the primary focus directed towards business owners. For instance, during Super September, Alibaba.com had discounts on over 30 categories of products. They also offered shipping discounts, expedited shipping and exclusive live streams for certain manufacturers and suppliers’ factories and production processes aimed at helping buyers make a more efficient decision regarding their purchases.
Adopted by Alibaba in 2009 as a day to offer discounts, Singles’ Day has ever since turned into a major shopping extravaganza with Alibaba’s 2021 GMV being $84.54 billion USD. With various offers and promotions available on Taobao, Tmall, and Alibaba.com, the Singles’ Day shopping festival now spans over 2 weeks.
Alibaba's "Year-End Good Price Festival" is a new seasonal event which was introduced last year. It is set to replace its previous annual December 12 shopping festival (or "Double 12") on its e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall. This pivot reflects Alibaba's focus on offering deep discounts across a wider range of products, similar to the well-known Singles' Day event held on November 11.
It depends on the type of sale event. Alibaba promotions run across the year on the savings spotlight page. Ranging from 24-hour flash sales to 2-week-long Singles’ Day shopping festival to Super September running for the entirety of the month, the length of a sale season differs from sale to sale.
Singles’ Day that was once a 24-hour sale on 11.1,1 has now become a massive retail event with record-breaking sales. So, sale periods keep evolving depending on the market situation. The longer the duration of the sale event and the more popular it is, the more nuanced the promotional strategy gets, with exclusive product launches, livestreaming, and major discounts. It also is an opportunity to enhance customer engagement.
Alibaba is one of the largest global marketplaces that enables you to connect with manufacturers and suppliers, negotiate a price, and buy products in bulk as per your need. Of course, it has its advantages. From a vast majority of products and product categories from various manufacturers, to affordable pricing, Alibaba is a solid option to consider. Sale seasons bring deeper discounts, opportunities to get discounted shipping, and reduced minimum order quantities.
Here are a few advantages to shopping on Alibaba:
During Super September, Alibaba offers discounts for over 13 million products. There is also a 10-40% discount on over 30 categories of products.
Alibaba has an expansive selection of products available on its site. Depending on your requirement, you can enter the specific keywords and find exactly what you’re looking for, on the marketplace.
Essentially, Alibaba is a B2B marketplace. It helps you get the best price when you’re buying in bulk. Sale seasons are naturally a great time to stock up as well as take advantage of the discounted prices.
Considering the size and scale at which Alibaba operates, with the sheer number of manufacturers and products it has, it is always a wise idea for the buyer to be prudent while making purchases. It is important for you, as a buyer, to know exactly what you’re looking for, use as specific keywords as possible, find the manufacturers/suppliers that fit your criteria by emailing them with an initial request detailing out your requirements, requesting a sample, and making a sound decision after taking all the rules, regulations and parameters into consideration.
Here are a few possible points that might make the process difficult to shop on Alibaba:
If you’ve visited the site before, you know how easy it is to get lost in the digital aisles of Alibaba, while trying to look for the product you need. While doing so, it is quite easy to get overwhelmed. A solution to get around this issue, is to use detailed keywords and have a clear idea of what you’re looking for.
Sale seasons, especially ones as massive as Singles’ Day, means that there are a lot of people shopping out there, thereby increasing the chances of shipping delays due to the surge in orders and the strain on logistical systems. Therefore, it makes sense for you to account for this beforehand if you’re shopping during a sale season.
Given the scale of the operations, there are chances of counterfeit or subpar products showing up on the platform for sale. Therefore, it is very important for you, as a buyer, to do your due diligence. For instance, you can check seller ratings and the product reviews. It is wise to opt for Alibaba Trade Assurance and only choose Verified Sellers, in order to reduce your chances of encountering quality issues.
In general, sourcing from Alibaba requires research and a proper understanding of how the platform works. Being one of the largest B2B marketplaces in the world and over 2,00,000 suppliers, it is possible to source products of nearly every category. When operations take place on such a large scale, it also means that you, as a buyer, must know what you’re looking for, and more importantly how to look for it on the platform.
In order to ensure you get the best deals and promotions, it is important to keep track of the various sale events and promotions that Alibaba has across the year. The website and the app are the best ways to remain updated about the current deals and the upcoming sales. Apart from that, it is always a wise idea to follow the brand on social media to know about specific deals that they’re marketing at the moment. You can even keep track of alizila.com to follow news regarding Alibaba Group.
Flash.co is a shopper's paradise and one of the most useful apps out there. Flash's app provides users with an all-in-one platform to understand their spending, streamline their purchase tracking, declutter their inboxes, and earn meaningful rewards—all while ensuring data privacy and personalisation. You can earn points from other orders and you can use that to redeem Alibaba coupons and gift cards. What can be better than using your shopping on other brands, to pay for shopping on your favorite marketplace Alibaba!
With such a wide array of product categories and product types, a vast list of manufacturers and suppliers, and the ability to buy large quantities in bulk at affordable prices, Alibaba is an obvious choice for businesses to source their products from. With a proper procedure that entails steps such as detailed research, an understanding of how the platform works, knowledge of shipping and customs regulations, you can source products that fit your exact requirement from Alibaba.
While Alibaba is already known for affordable pricing, sale events are times where you can find even deeper discounts on products and additional perks such as discounted shipping, live streams of the production processes, etc. Therefore, it makes sense to keep track of when the next Alibaba online shopping sale is, via various channels. Moreover, using apps like Flash.co can help you save even more!
How often does Alibaba update its sales calendar?
Alibaba typically designs its sales calendar around major shopping events and seasonal promotions. Key sales events and other smaller seasonal or regional campaigns are planned annually, with the exact dates and details often announced closer to the event. In addition to these major sales events, Alibaba may have periodic flash sales, industry-specific promotions, and other limited-time offers throughout the year.
Can international buyers participate in all Alibaba sales events?
Alibaba.com is a global marketplace that facilitates international trade. Sales events on Alibaba.com are aimed at businesses, so international buyers can take advantage of global promotions, discounts, and special deals during major sales events.
What tools does Alibaba offer to track upcoming sales?
The website, mobile app and social media channels are solid sources to track the next upcoming sale events. Alibaba.com Reads is also a great blog for a buyer to keep up with useful information regarding the industry, and equips them with the knowledge to make better sourcing decisions.
How can buyers get early access to Alibaba sales?
Buyers can make use of several strategies to get early access to Alibaba sales. This includes making use of Pre-Sale windows (Singles’ Day), subscribing to Alibaba’s membership services and their newsletters, following Alibaba’s social media accounts on X, Instagram, or Facebook, etc.
