What’s the Story?

Coresight Research conceived the idea of the 10.10 Shopping Festival in June 2020 as a way to bring fun and excitement back to the industry. At that time, many nonessential stores were still closed and unemployment was high, so it was clear that a spark was needed within the retail industry. The inaugural four-day festival was held on October 9–12, 2020, and had 49 participating retailers and brands as well as the backing of 13 supporting partners, which included technology firms, startups and industry bodies. In 2020, the event supported 13 charities. On October 10, 2021, we will host the second annual 10.10 Shopping Festival, which will have a livestream focus this year. Participating brands and retailers will showcase special deals and new products to consumers. The livestream event will run from 10.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. EDT. Why It Matters While shopping festivals are a key driver of retail spending in China and India, among other countries, their role in the retail ecosystem is still emerging in the US. Coresight Research launched the 10.10 Shopping Festival to bring the excitement of shopping festivals to the US and to help retailers and shoppers address the disruption caused by Covid-19. The inaugural 10.10 Shopping Festival brought together a large group of retailers, brands, technology innovators and retail innovators that had not previously partnered together in a large-scale event. This year, the 10.10 Shopping Festival will continue to support the entire retail ecosystem. Consumers will benefit from a fun retail experience that combines livestream entertainment with charitable giving. In addition, retailers will benefit from increased traffic and pulling holiday shopping forward, while supporting partners will be able to assist retailers and donate to their preferred charities. Coresight Research is pleased to help partner charities boost their donations.

The 10.10 Shopping Festival: 10 Things To Know 

We present the 10 most important things to know about Coresight Research’s upcoming 10.10 Shopping Festival. 1. The Shopping Festival Will Be a 12-Hour Livestreamed Event The second annual 10.10 Shopping Festival will be a 12-hour livestreamed event on October 10, 2021, from 10.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. EDT. The festival aims to provide consumers with a fun online shopping experience online and the opportunity to give back this holiday season. Coresight Research will host the festival in partnership with innovative livestream shopping and shoppable video platforms. The 10.10 festival also has more than 30 partner brands, retailers and charities. The festival will enable consumers to shop for themselves and others through shoppable videos. Coresight Research survey findings from March 2021 indicate that 31.5% of US consumers have watched a shoppable livestream, indicating huge opportunity in the online live-shopping space. 2. The Festival Partners with Industry Innovators Coresight Research will spearhead 10.10, with livestream shopping technology capabilities facilitated by CommentSold and Smartzer. The festival also partners with live one-to-one selling platform GhostRetail. Livestreaming is just beginning to take hold in the US and is a powerful way for brands to engage with consumers. Each partner company (listed below) offers innovative solutions that are disrupting the retail industry.

---

Figure 1. 10.10 Shopping Festival: Partner Shopping Platforms [wpdatatable id=1283 table_view=regular]

---

Source: Company reports 3. Charitable Giving Is a Central Theme Charitable giving is a key theme in the 10.10 Shopping Festival, aiming to make supporting charities an easy and fun part of shopping. Retailers participating in the festival commit to donating at least 5% of sales to partner charities. Shoppers can also donate directly to partner charities. The 10.10 Shopping Festival’s partner charities are as follows:

• American Heart Association (Go Red For Women)
• Delivering Good
• National Breast Cancer Foundation
• Retailers United
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Soles4Souls

4. 26 Retailers and Brands Are Participating  The 10.10 Shopping Festival features 26 participating retailers and brands across accessories, apparel, baby products, beauty, electronics, footwear and home goods. Brands and retailers are also offering products featuring sustainable designs. The 10.10 Shopping Festival’s participating brands and retailers are as follows:

·       100% Pure	·       Guess? Inc.	·       Organic Candy Factory
·       Astouri	·       High on Love	·       Purlisse Beauty
·       Auda B.	·       Immunocologie	·       Retail Pride
·       Beaut	·       Longaberger	·       Shielded Beauty
·       CoFi	·       Macy’s	·       Skin Authority
·       DefineMe Fragrances	·       May11 Hair	·       T3
·       Fifth and Cherry	·       My Skin & Co	·       Urban Savage
·       Gladys Tyler	·       Neighborhood Goods	·       Vera Bradley
·       goodMRKT	·       Organic Apoteke

5. This Year’s 10.10 Festival Features More Beauty Brands  This year, Coresight Research has partnered with Access Beauty Insiders to bring more beauty brands into the event and facilitate brand discovery, especially for indie brands. Beauty brands DefineMe Fragrances, Shielded Beauty and Skin Authority will livestream content through the festival’s supporting platforms, offering product recommendations, beauty bundle pack discounts and gift sets with appealing packaging designs. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has substantially impacted US retail sales, the pandemic-driven shift to e-commerce has been beneficial for beauty brands and retailers. With consumers relying more on digital channels to connect with brand communities and each other, brands are increasingly turning to livestreaming to drive engagement and extend their consumer reach. Despite the impact of the pandemic, beauty sales have seen positive year-over-year growth since July 2020. On a two-year basis, beauty spending growth has averaged 15.3% between January and July 2021. 6. The Festival Marks an Early Start to the Holiday Season October presents a significant opportunity for retailers to get a head start on the holiday season. The 10.10 Shopping Festival provides a new platform for retailers to reach consumers, gain insights into their demands and desires, and ramp up holiday campaigns before November. Supply chain pressures and pandemic-related uncertainty will make it more challenging and likely more expensive for retailers to deliver holiday purchases. By pulling forward holiday spending, retailers can better manage promotional spending, inventory and delivery while providing an enhanced customer experience. Additionally, many consumers are still concerned about the safety of shopping experiences and are avoiding crowded shopping areas. By participating in the 10.10 Shopping Festival, retailers can spread out traffic; the festival can create a retail holiday without the usual “holiday stress.” 7. 10.10 Is Inspired by the Success of Alibaba’s Singles’ Day (11.11)  The 10.10 Shopping Festival was inspired by the success of Alibaba’s Singles’ Day, also known as 11.11 or Double 11, which is the largest global shopping festival, generating $74.1 billion in sales in 2020. Singles’ Day, which takes place in November, provides both a platform and an occasion to celebrate new brands—Alibaba launched over 1 million new products on its marketplace platforms over the 2020 festival. In China, consumers look forward to Singles’ Day promotions and celebrations all year long. CEO and Founder of Coresight Research Deborah Weinswig was inspired by the collaborative platform of Alibaba’s Singles’ Day, as it ranges from small independent brands to large multinational companies. Shoppers often put items in their shopping carts, counting down the days until the festival begins, according to Weinswig, who wanted to put that kind of energy, fun and excitement back into shopping in the US with the 10.10 festival. 8. Festivals Help To Drive Traffic and Sales “Festivalizing” retail presents substantial opportunities for brands and retailers to increase brand awareness and drive sales, particularly in periods of uncertainty. We expect shopping festivals to only become bigger and longer to attract more consumers to participate. Most recently, Tmall’s 9.9 festival, the third-largest global shopping festival, extended its sales period to September 5–10, 2021, including several stages: pre-heat shopping on September 5–8 and official shopping on September 9–10. In the US, retailers are catching on to the power of festivals. Amazon has expanded the length of its Prime Day since the launch of the event. In 2020 and 2021, the shopping event lasted 48 hours, which helped to lift transaction volumes. The 10.10 Shopping Festival takes advantage of this shopping format to boost spending and help brands and retailers attract new customers and improve brand awareness. 8. The 10.10 Festival Marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the US. The 10.10 Shopping Festival is marking this occasion by partnering with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). NBCF promotes breast cancer awareness and education, provides free screening services, and supports breast cancer patients and survivors. Moreover, through its National Mammography Program, NBCF provides free mammograms and diagnostic care services to underserved women. 9. What You Can Do Many consumers rely on friends, family or social media recommendations and product advice before purchasing. In this way, consumers’ personal circles and professional networks often influence where and what they shop. Key opinion consumers (KOCs) can be integral to raising awareness of shopping festivals and in brand discovery. Unlike key opinion leaders (KOLs) or influencers, KOCs are regular consumers who share their reviews of products with their friends and family via videos and posts, similar to word-of-mouth marketing. Coresight Research invites readers to support the brands, retailers and charities at this 10.10 Shopping Festival by joining our livestream sessions, shopping and sharing the festival on social media.

What We Think

The 10.10 Shopping Festival officially kicks off the 2021 holiday season. It is the second annual shopping festival and will be a 12-hour livestreamed event on October 10, 2021, from 10.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. EDT.  The festival includes more than 30 brands, retailers and charity partners with participating companies spanning major retail categories including accessories, apparel, baby products, beauty, electronics, footwear, home goods and products featuring sustainable design elements. The 10.10 Shopping Festival is open for all consumers to shop, both online and in-store. Coresight Research launched the festival in partnership with livestream shopping platforms, Smartzer and CommentSold and live one-to-one selling platform Ghost Retail.

• The festival was created as a way to engage consumers and drive brand awareness. Consumers will benefit from the festival by enjoying brand and retailer promotions and having fun while they shop through interactive, interesting livestream videos.
• Charity is a differentiator of the 10.10 Shopping Festival: Consumers will have the opportunity to contribute to charities directly or indirectly when they shop from retailers and brands that are giving back.
• Retailers will benefit from the 10.10 Shopping Festival through increased brand awareness, increased sales and by alleviating supply chain bottlenecks by pulling holiday shopping forward.
• Charities will benefit from the 10.10 Shopping Festival as they will be able to increase donations at a time when consumers need them most.

We look forward to shopping with you during the 10.10 Shopping Festival!