(Adds details of sales this year)

SHANGHAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Black Friday? No. Cyber

Monday? Nope. Prime Day? Absolutely not. The world's biggest

shopping event happens in China each year - and is called

Singles' Day.

Originally a holiday to celebrate being single, as a counter

to Valentine's Day, the event has grown into a weeks-long online

shopping festival that this year began on October 9 and runs

through November 11 - making it the longest Singles' Day sales

period ever.

WHEN DID THE IDEA OF SINGLES' DAY ORIGINATE?

The idea for Singles' Day originated at China's Nanjing

University back in 1993 and was originally called "Bachelor's

Day." On the day, single people treat themselves with gifts and

presents, while also organising social gatherings and parties.

HOW MUCH DO CONSUMERS SPEND?

Last year, the total value of goods sold during the shopping

bonanza - also known as "Double 11" - totaled 1.44 trillion yuan

($202 billion), according to data provider Syntun.

That is almost five times the $41.1 billion U.S. shoppers

spent last year during Cyber Week, the period from Black Friday

to Cyber Monday, per data from Adobe Analytics.

Cyber Monday immediately follows Black Friday, which falls

on the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday, the busiest

shopping day of the year in the United States.

But growth has been harder to come by for major e-commerce

players in China, which have extended their Singles' Day sales

period and leaned heavily on subsidies and coupons to entice

spending. Last year's sales growth rate of 27% was largely

attributed to a longer overall festival period.

This year Alibaba Group ( BABA ) pledged 50 billion yuan in

subsidies for its 88VIP members over the Singles' Day period.

The event has, in recent years, lost some of its novelty with

the rise of other shopping festivals in China, including the

midyear "618" sales which is the country's second-largest, and

has also lengthened to a weeks-long event.

WHAT MAJOR BRANDS AND PRODUCTS ARE SHOPPERS BUYING?

While Alibaba ( BABA ) started "Double 11" in 2009 to win over online

shoppers with discounts and promotions, China's major e-commerce

platforms now all take part in it.

JD.com ( JD ) joined in 2012 and PDD Holdings ( PDD )-owned

Pinduoduo has also become a significant player, offering

low-cost products in competition with Alibaba ( BABA )-owned Tmall and

Taobao platforms.

Last year, categories covered by a national 150 billion yuan

household-appliance-subsidy scheme outperformed. With a higher

comparison base this year, those categories are expected to

decline. Nomura analysts forecast in October that home appliance

sales will fall 20% in the fourth quarter in China.

Instant retail - one-hour delivery of online orders - is also a

focus this year. Alibaba ( BABA ) and JD.com ( JD ) have poured billions into

subsidies throughout 2025 to attract shoppers to rapid-delivery

channels, which have been growing faster than e-commerce

overall.

WHICH OTHER COMPANIES HOPE TO BENEFIT?

Many global companies, from apparel maker Nike ( NKE ) to

cosmetics firm Estee Lauder ( EL ) and consumer goods giant

Procter & Gamble ( PG ), have a big presence on Chinese

e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com ( JD ).

Aggressive discounting has been a hallmark of Chinese

shopping festivals since pandemic restrictions ended in China in

late 2022, though consumption overall has remained sluggish as

people save more in the face of macroeconomic challenges and a

prolonged property crisis.

According to Alibaba ( BABA ), 35 brands, including Nike ( NKE ), L'Oreal and

local firms Anta and Proya, sold more than

100 million yuan of merchandise in the first hour of the sale

this year.

At a press conference a few days into its Singles' Day sales

period, JD.com ( JD ) said it would list over 100,000 "hit" products at

its lowest prices of the year and sell 50,000 pairs of thermal

Long Johns at 2 yuan each, shipping included.

Phone sales are expected to be strong this year, given

recent launches of Apple's ( AAPL ) iPhone 17 series and

Xiaomi's ( XIACF ) 17 series in September.

Within the first two hours, sales of iPhone on Apple's ( AAPL ) Tmall

store exceeded the full-day total for the same period last year,

according to Alibaba ( BABA ), which did not disclose specific figures.

($1 = 7.1230 yuan)

(Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Sam Holmes and Muralikumar

Anantharaman)