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Black Friday and Cyber Monday are part of the U.S. Thanksgiving shopping period; Singles’ Day, also called 11.11, is an unofficial holiday associated with people who are not in romantic relationships that Alibaba turned into a major shopping festival. Their names reflect different cultural and retail contexts—not one universal shopping event. The available sources document Alibaba’s commercial launch of 11.11, but they do not establish the full cultural origins of Singles’ Day or settle the history of the name Black Friday.
What do these shopping days mean?
These labels refer to events shaped by different calendars and retail traditions. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are tied to the U.S. Thanksgiving period. Singles’ Day is associated with 11/11 and the idea of celebrating people who are single; Alibaba’s 11.11 shopping festival is the large retail event built around that date.
The names alone do not tell you how long a promotion runs, which retailers participate, or whether a particular offer is worthwhile. Retailers may extend promotions beyond a named day, so a deal’s terms and dates matter more to a shopper than the event label.
What is Singles’ Day, and why is 11.11 a shopping day?
Amazon Ads’ global event calendar calls 11.11 Singles’ Day and describes it as an unofficial holiday associated with people who are not in romantic relationships. That description explains the connection retailers make between the date and the holiday, but it does not establish a complete history of the holiday’s cultural origins.
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Alibaba’s 11.11 shopping festival
Alibaba says its 11.11 shopping festival began in 2009 with 27 merchants, as an event intended to raise awareness of online shopping. The company later described it as having grown from a 24-hour online sale into a longer festival involving both online and offline activity.
For its 2021 11.11 campaign, which ran for 11 days, Alibaba reported RMB 540.3 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV). That is a company-reported figure for a particular campaign and measurement window. GMV is not a count of shoppers, and it should not be compared directly with shopper counts reported for U.S. Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
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What do Black Friday and Cyber Monday mean?
In the National Retail Federation’s description, the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday form one of the busiest U.S. shopping periods of the year. Black Friday is the Friday in that period, while Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving. NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said the period “represents some of the busiest shopping days of the year” and reflects consumer resilience and economic strength.
Why is Black Friday called Black Friday?
The available sources establish Black Friday’s place in the U.S. Thanksgiving shopping period, but they do not settle the origin of its name. Without stronger historical sourcing, it would be misleading to present a familiar explanation as a confirmed account of how the name began.
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How do the events compare?
| Event | Setting and audience | Timing | What the cited figures measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Friday | Part of the U.S. Thanksgiving shopping period described by NRF. | The Friday in the five-day Thanksgiving-to-Cyber-Monday period. | NRF reported 81.7 million in-store Black Friday shoppers in the United States in 2024. |
| Cyber Monday | Part of the same U.S. Thanksgiving shopping period. | The Monday after Thanksgiving. | NRF reported 64.4 million online Cyber Monday shoppers in the United States in 2024. |
| Singles’ Day / 11.11 | An unofficial holiday associated with people who are not in romantic relationships; Alibaba’s shopping festival is a company-promoted event built around it. | November 11, with Alibaba’s 2021 campaign running for 11 days. | Alibaba reported RMB 540.3 billion in GMV for its 2021 campaign; this is not a shopper count. |
The measures are not interchangeable: NRF’s figures count shoppers in specified channels, while Alibaba’s figure is GMV for a campaign with a different duration and commercial context.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What do the shopper figures show?
For the 2024 U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, NRF reported 197 million shoppers overall, including 81.7 million in-store Black Friday shoppers and 64.4 million online Cyber Monday shoppers. These are NRF’s estimates for that year and geography; the Black Friday and Cyber Monday channel figures describe different days and shopping modes, not a direct ranking of the events.
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Those counts also answer a different question from Alibaba’s campaign GMV. A shopper total indicates how many people shopped according to the organization’s measurement; GMV indicates the value of merchandise transacted under Alibaba’s reported campaign measure. Neither statistic, by itself, shows how much an individual saved or whether a particular price was good.
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What this means when you are deciding whether to shop
- Use the event name to understand the calendar context, not as proof that every retailer has the same promotion.
- Compare an item’s current price with its price history or the price you planned to pay, and check shipping costs, return terms, and sale conditions.
- Judge a promotion on the actual offer and your budget. A large event-wide sales or shopper figure does not establish that a specific product is discounted or that buying it is worthwhile.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
