The World Shopping Tourism Network celebrates World Shopping Day today, November 11

11-11-22

Today, 11 November, the World Shopping Tourism Network is celebrating World Shopping Day with a number of events around the world and in partnership with institutions.

Many shops, shopping centres and retailers are kicking off the discount season with the celebration of World Shopping Day, in anticipation of BlackFriday, which takes place on the last Friday of November. Among the offers are special discounts on mobiles and electronics, clothing, toys and selected categories of goods.

The celebration of these holidays is linked to the purchase of goods online and in physical shops, which has a significant impact on people's consumption habits.

In addition, the confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to the modification of daily activities, such as teleworking and virtual education, forcing us to spend more time at home. Physical shopping is becoming less and less frequent, increasing the predilection for e-commerce.

What is the origin of World Shopping Day?

The main predecessor of this date is Singles' Day, also known as World Shopping Day. In 1993, four friends from the Chinese University of Nanjing decided to celebrate their bachelorhood by exchanging gifts every 11 November.

The choice of this date is related to the number 1, which in Chinese represents a tree without leaves, associated with a person who is not married or has no partner. Then the 11th day of the 11th month became the quintessential symbol of World Singles' Day, because the graphic representation of the word "single" written in Chinese is four vertical lines or sticks "11:11". This celebration reached great popularity and e-commerce companies joined in, offering a large number of promotions through online commerce shops. The sales figures exceed those obtained during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Another element to consider is the enormous worldwide dissemination of this date, thanks to companies such as Alibaba Group, turning Singles' Day into World Shopping Day.

World Shopping Tourism Network

The World  Shopping Tourism Network, managed by Global Journey Consulting in collaboration with UNWTO Affiliate Member companies and institutions, aims to respond to point 10 of the Shopping Tourism Network Action Plan presented in 2016 by UNWTO, and intends to use the Network to centralise, communicate and respond to the need to create a meeting space for all sectors, agents and actors involved in the development of Shopping Tourism.

The main lines of work are the following:

1.  Shopping Tourism (Traditional concept)

• Focused on the offer of recognised international and national brands, mainly located in shopping centres and urban centres.

• It is common to all destinations considered as Shopping Tourism destinations.

2. Shopping Tourism of Products with Cultural Identity (industry/retail businesses)

• New vision that integrates local industries in a territorial space within the concept of Shopping Tourism.

• This type of Shopping Tourism offers the traveller a unique and different experience to get to know and purchase products made in that tourist destination and whose cultural identity is characteristic of that territory.

3.  Communication

4. Knowledge network

5. Forum and events

6. Technological tools and services

7. Networking 

For more information on the World Shopping Tourism Network, please click here.