Get Prepared For 11.11; Here’s What You Need To Do!

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November is just a few days away, and we can see 11.11 sale advertisements everywhere- from social media and shopping malls to small businesses in small towns.

There is more to saving money than just waiting for November 11. But, before we dive into the tips and tricks, let’s see how a day that started out to be the opposite of Valentine’s Day boomed into an international online shopping gala?

Interesting facts about 11.11

It started in the 1990s as a celebration for singles at Chinese colleges. The numbers 11.11 looks like ‘bare sticks’ denoting those who are single. Alibaba first used this idea in 2009 to promote self-gifting and gave discounts and promotions on the day.

But today, it has lost its Singles Day branding and is now widely known and loved as the Double 11, a shopping festival growing bigger year after year.

What started as a one-day shopping sales has fast spiralled into a 20-day festival. Last year, there were countdown events leading up to the big 11.11 that had shoppers hooked.

It might have started in college campuses in China, but it is going global at an incredible speed. Apart from Southeast Asean countries, the target audience for 11.11 also come from U.S and Australia.

What started with Aliexpress, soon expanded to include other online retail platforms such as Shopee. What’s remarkable is that even small online businesses are announcing sales and promotions on 11.11.

Ready for some mind-boggling 11.11 stats?

For the first Singles Day event held by Ali Baba in 2009, 27 brands took part. In 2021, more than 290,000 brands took part in the 11.11 shopping festival.

Singles day 2021 attracted more than 900 million shoppers all over the world

Source: https://queue-it.com/blog/singles-day-statistics/

What to buy on 11.11 this year?

It’s easy to get carried away with the fantastic deals on e-commerce sites, but that could end up with you buying things you don’t actually need. You don’t save money when that happens, you’re just wasting less of it.

What you need is a clear list of what you’re looking to buy. It doesn’t need to be limited to necessities, just that you need to stick to what you really want and resist adding things to your shopping cart on impulse.

Pro Tip

Don’t forget to take advantage of additional promos offered on Shopee and Lazada for 11.11 to save more on your shopping!

Electronic items

Expensive electronic items such as laptops, cameras, mobile phones, and gaming peripherals are not everyday purchases for obvious reasons – they are expensive. You may need to be careful when shopping for electronics.

Some retailers use this as an opportunity to clear out last-generation devices. The best way to shop for electronics during this time is to have already decided on the exact model that you want.

There’s no time to be doing comparisons or research during the sale; instead, make a note of precisely what you want and one or two other alternatives.

iMoney’s 11.11 Saving Hack

Cashback credit cards are priceless when it comes to saving money. Coupling a cashback credit card with the 11.11 sale will be a smart move to save more money.

Home and lifestyle products

If you have been juggling with the idea of upgrading or a makeover for your home, this is just the right time to plan for it. With a variety of home improvement products, furniture, lighting, and décor in online platforms, you will just be spending a fraction of what you would have spent otherwise.

In short, get your home makeover project going! With plentiful DIY ideas on the Internet, home makeovers have become a breeze. You do not need to hire professional makeovers to do your home.

You may also have an easier time shopping for these items since everyone will be distracted by bigger ticket things like smartphones, cosmetics, and baby diapers.

iMoney’s 11.11 Saving Hack

Reward credit cards that give you points are useful as a long-term savings plan. Upon accumulating a certain number of reward points, you will be able to redeem items such as flight tickets and home appliances in the future.

Gifts supply for 2023

Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Appreciation Day, Teacher’s Day, Christmas, New Year, Just Because are some of the reasons we use to gift our loved ones.

While they may seem small when spread out in the course of a year, cumulatively they come up to a big amount and may take a big chunk out of your wallet.

So, why not make use of the biggest online sale to stock up on thoughtful gifts for your friends and family?

All you need is a list of celebrations and people you want to gift. Browse away until you find what you think they would like with less worry on how much it will cost you.

iMoney’s 11.11 Saving Hack

Using a cashback or rewards credit card will cut the sting out of a big spending spree. For someone with just 5 friends and 4 family members, you are going to buy 9 birthday gifts by default, which can easily cost you several hundred ringgit.

Set alarms for flash sales

Veterans of online sales will be familiar with the concept of flash sales. These are special deals that offer even more discounts than what is already on offer. As the name suggests, they will be gone in a flash.

Online stores will rotate their flash sales throughout the day. This means you only have a few hours to take advantage of these even lower prices. Although, you can expect the flash sale items to sell out in mere minutes.

To avoid missing a deal, set an alarm for when the next rotation is set to happen. Online stores will build the hype for the next sale with a countdown on their front page. All you need to do is set your phone alarm to let you know when the next change happens.

Restock the house

There’s more to 11.11 than big-ticket items. Households can also take this opportunity to restock the house. Parents already know that baby diapers go on sale during this time and rush to buy as many as they can. Having children isn’t cheap, and every little bit helps.

Other popular items are non-perishable foodstuffs. Milo and coffee are commonly sold by the warehouse on 11.11, and for good reason. You probably needed these for the house anyway, so buying them on sale is a good way to ensure that you’re shopping smart.

Don’t overdo it!

We cannot stress the importance of managing your money carefully in times like these. It’s easy to get carried away buying things and losing track of how much you’ve spent.

Remember, buying something you didn’t need on a discount is not actually saving money. So, it might help to think carefully about what you need to buy.

However, we’re also fully aware that you are going to spend money on 11.11. We’re probably going to do the same. After all, this is still a great time to stock up on necessities and pick up discounted gadgets.

We should be smart about how we spend our hard-earned money. Take advantage of cashback and rewards offered by the many credit cards available. It doesn’t hurt to sign up for the many additional rewards programs like Shopback to double-dip on rewards.

There’s nothing wrong with online retail therapy – as long as you don’t end up in massive amounts of debt.

This article was first published in October 2019 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy and comprehensiveness