The weakened pound sterling is expected to attract an influx of ‘Brexit’ bargain hunters tipped to splurge online on British brands during this week’s China Single’s Day (11 November), says Worldpay.

New data reveals the annual online shopping bonanza,  made famous by ecommerce giant Alibaba Group, grew by 39% globally year-on-year in 2016 and generated more than double the total online sales of Black Friday.

Last year, online shopping activities peaked at 17.24pm GMT, at which point Worldpay processed 44,505 payments per minute.

UK E-SALES +19%

British businesses alone recorded a +19% uplift in China Singles’ Day sales, with Worldpay predicting this year’s event to be even bigger.

Maria Prados, VP Global Retail at Worldpay said: “For UK businesses looking to break into the huge Chinese eCommerce market, Singles’ Day should be an important landmark in the calendar year.

“The current economic climate means international shoppers get more for their money when buying British. Combined with the rising purchasing power of the Chinese consumer, the pound’s performance could mean big bucks for UK brands on 11 November, but only if they are well prepared.

“To turn browsers into buyers, it is essential to tailor the online shopping experience to local tastes. For Chinese consumers, this means focusing on your mobile proposition.

“Shoppers expect to use their preferred payment option – increasingly e-wallets like Alipay and WeChat Pay – and merchants should offer a cutting edge checkout experience to attract tech savvy consumers.”

‘MIND-BLOWING GROWTH’

Such has been the rise in popularity of China Singles’ Day that Alibaba’s sales ‘obliterated’ its Cyber Monday’s sales haul in less than two hours, notes a WorldPay report.

An important factor is the continuing rise of the Chinese middle classes, their increased purchasing power and desire for new brand experiences.

This has translated into burgeoning sales across China’s expansive ecommerce landscape including the likes of Tmall, and JD.com.

Key findings in the Worldpay report include the extension of more diversified ecommerce growth strategies in response to an explosion in domestic Chinese retailers, global brands and entrepreneurs.

WeChat continues to captivate the Global Ecommerce Leaders Forum (GELF) community and attracts influencers and key opinion leaders that help to foster ‘brand trust’ among Chinese consumers, although Tmall remains popular for online Chinese shoppers.

The report added: “Retail brands need to be prepared to address many challenges. These include balancing customer acquisition and brand marketing; localising payments and the shopping experience; fulfilment and last mile delivery; regulatory uncertainties; data access and analytics and strengthening digital teams.”

Worldpay processed a total of 14.9bn transactions at a value of £451.1bn in 2016.

Figures according to Worldpay’s Global eCom transaction data for online retailers in the UK on China Singles Day (11 November).