China’s big “Singles Day” shopping holiday improved a bit in 2025 over the previous year, but retailers said the pace of growth slowed as customers looked for bargains, instead of spending big on luxury items.

“Singles Day” falls on November 11, or “11/11.” The name is both a pun on the date and an invitation for single people to go shopping online. The number “1” also resembles the Chinese ideogram for a lonely or single person. Some Chinese refer to the day as “Double 11.”

Singles Day was created in 2009 by e-commerce giant Alibaba, which had the idea to create a “holiday” that would encourage single people to show themselves a good time with an online shopping binge. “Even if you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you can at least shop like crazy!” was one of Alibaba’s early slogan

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