By Casey Hall and Sophie Yu

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China’s Singles’ Day sales festival is coming to a close after more than a month of promotions on the country’s largest e-commerce platforms, which failed to spark widespread consumer excitement during the world’s largest shopping event.

Consumer malaise in China, stemming from a prolonged property crisis and concerns about income security, has made it harder than ever to get people to open their wallets.

In response, retailers have become more aggressive about year-round discounting, rolled out billions of yuan in consumer subsidies and coupons and elongated sales events.

Many sites kicked off this year’s Singles’ Day – which refers to November 11, or 11.11 – in the first half of October, making it the longest festival to date.

“It is a

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