Key shopping events a big opportunity

For example, China's Single's Day on November 11 has grown from a one-day shopping session to one that now generates more revenue than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

The 11th day of the 11th month was originally chosen for this promotion because the numeral one resembles a bare stick, which is apparently Chinese "slang" for an unmarried man who does not add "branches" to the family tree.

It was first celebrated in 1993 as an anti-Valentine's Day for singles.

This year, e-commerce platform Alibaba reported an exorbitant $191 billion spend during the 10-day shopping festival, which was a 14 per cent increase from the previous year.

JD.com reported $75.5 billion in transactions, which was a 28pc increase.

Many Chinese shoppers were quoted as saying they spent more on clothes online to make up for a reduced spend on travel due to the global pandemic.

Luxury products, home appliances and home decorations were in high demand, and there was a 25pc increase in purchases from rural areas.

Interestingly, as part of China President Xi Jinping's push for "common prosperity" - or "moderate wealth for all" - both JD and Alibaba converted their sales pitches from "purchasing calls to action" to "social and environmental responsibility".

JD claimed it reduced carbon emissions by 26,000 tonnes during the Single's Day shopping festival, compared to last year.

This is new messaging to appeal to the conscious consumer.

Now, we are gearing up for Black Friday on November 26 and Cyber Monday on November 29, when global shoppers search online for pre-Christmas bargains.

Finder predicts 8.9 million Australians will participate in this shopping event and spend an estimated $3.8 billion.

Analysts believe the re-opening of many brick-and-mortar retail stores is unlikely to dampen online shopping craziness.

I have been receiving emails about early sales and upcoming discounts for at least 10 days, and some are promising up to 80pc savings.

So, for interest sake, I trolled through the pre-discount offers listed in news articles to see if there was any mention of wool.

Sports shoes, computers, mobile phones, watches, dresses, cosmetics, linen and furniture all appeared. But there was no wool.

A google search of "Black Friday wool sales" and "Black Friday woollen jumper sales" did bring up several deals on knitting yarn.

But there were very few mentions of woollen clothing, footwear, carpets or other products.

Surely, we - as an industry - could be approaching retailers to organise a global wool campaign as part of these unique online shopping events.

It's not all about discounting.

There is a unique branding and marketing opportunity to capture focused consumers wanting to spend large sums of money online.

In 2020, more than two billion people purchased goods or services online and e-retail sales passed US$4.2 trillion worldwide.

This is forecast to continue growing, despite lockdowns easing in many countries, as shoppers seek convenience and competitive prices.

I can't wait to see the wool industry improve its presence online to appeal to shoppers by telling the fabulous story of Australian wool from the grower on-farm to the fashion house.

More people need to appreciate and experience the magic of wool.