In short: No, not in Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s December 2025 Harbolnas sale grew 17% to Rp36.4 trillion, according to the Ministry of Trade (Infobanknews, January 2026). What has faded is the blanket discount. A good 11.11 sale retail strategy now means fewer, better-targeted promotions, backed by store data, stock and staff.
Every year someone asks whether double-day sales have run their course. Discounts now run all year, and shoppers know it. Yet the numbers from the region tell a different story. This guide looks at the latest data and explains how to build an 11.11 sale retail strategy that protects margin as well as volume.
What are double-day sales?
Double-day sales are shopping events held on dates where the day and month match, such as 9.9, 10.10, 11.11 and 12.12. The best known, 11.11, grew out of China’s Singles’ Day. Today, marketplaces such as Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop run these campaigns across Southeast Asia.
Indonesia has its own version. Harbolnas (Hari Belanja Online Nasional, or National Online Shopping Day) centres on 12 December.
For physical retailers, these dates matter too. Shoppers compare prices across channels, so a store that ignores the event can still lose the sale.
Are 11.11 and 12.12 sales losing their pull in Southeast Asia?
The regional data says the events are still growing. Here are the clearest figures.
- Indonesia: Harbolnas 2025 (10–16 December) reached Rp36.4 trillion in transactions, up 17% from Rp31.2 trillion in 2024. Trade Minister Budi Santoso reported this in January 2026 (Infobanknews). Local products made up 45.6% of the total.
- Thailand: Lazada Thailand’s chief executive told The Nation in October 2025 that more than half of the platform’s sales now come from mega-sale campaigns. This is a company-reported figure.
- Region: Criteo’s double-date review of Q4 2024, cited by Marketing-Interactive in November 2025, found revenue up 9.6% year on year. Average basket size rose 14%.
- Singapore: The Department of Statistics (SingStat) reported that retail sales rose 5.8% year on year in November 2025, excluding motor vehicles. The online share of total retail sales jumped from 14.5% in October to 16.9% in November.
Interest is also high. Meltwater social listening, cited by Marketing-Interactive in November 2025, counted 47,800 regional mentions of Singles’ Day between late September and late October 2025. Black Friday drew 3,190.
In other words, the shopping days are not dying. However, the way shoppers approach them is changing.
Why does it feel like sales are losing their lustre?
Retail Pro’s 2024 article on seasonal sales events made a useful point. When retailers offer discounts all year, a single sale day carries less weight. Big events also stretch. In the United States, Black Friday has grown into a long weekend that runs through Cyber Monday.
Even so, US shoppers kept turning up. The National Retail Federation (NRF), as cited by Retail Pro, counted a record 200.4 million US consumers over the 2023 Thanksgiving-to-Cyber-Monday weekend. That was 1.8% more than in 2022. This is US data, but the pattern looks familiar in Asia.
Southeast Asian shoppers are also more careful with money. A NielsenIQ and Bain & Company report from November 2025 found that 42% of consumers in the region look for the same products at lower prices. Meanwhile, 43% are cutting back on non-household spending.
In Singapore, a YouGov survey for Amazon Singapore in October 2025 found that 42% of adults call themselves “Deal Optimizers” when shopping for themselves. One in four use sales to save on holiday gifts.
So shoppers still buy during sales. They simply plan more, compare more and expect real value.
How should retailers plan an 11.11 sale retail strategy?
A strong plan starts with data, not with a discount rate. These six steps work for both stores and online channels.
- Choose your events. You do not need to join every double day. Look at last year’s sales, footfall and margin for 9.9, 10.10, 11.11 and 12.12. Then commit to the ones that paid off.
- Target the offer. Instead of a store-wide cut, aim offers at the categories, stores or customer groups that respond. Loyalty members, for example, may value a reward coupon over a price cut.
- Plan the window. Harbolnas 2025 ran for seven days, not one. A short run-up and a follow-on offer spread demand and ease queues.
- Line up stock early. Check which stores hold the promoted items. If shoppers can reserve online and collect in store, make sure the stock count is accurate.
- Staff for the peak. Schedule extra staff for the hours that matter. Brief them on the offer rules so checkout stays fast.
- Review the results. Compare sales, basket size and margin against a normal week. Use what you learn for 12.12 and the next year.
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Will you know whether 11.11 actually worked?
Most retailers finish the event knowing their revenue and nothing else — not traffic, not conversion, not how much of it was margin they gave away. We’ll show you what to measure.
Blanket discounts or targeted promotions: what is the difference?
The table below sums up the two approaches.
| Blanket discount | Targeted promotion | |
| Who gets the offer | Every shopper | Chosen segments, stores or categories |
| Effect on margin | Discount applies to all sales | Discount limited to where it drives extra sales |
| Price perception | Can train shoppers to wait for sales | Rewards loyalty and specific behaviour |
| Data needed | Little | Customer, item and store data |
| Best for | Clearing old stock quickly | Growing basket size and repeat visits |
Both have a place. Yet value-seeking shoppers are now more selective, so targeted offers usually work harder.
Reviewing results after 11.11 helps plan a better 12.12.
How can Retail Pro Prism support your double-day promotions?
Retail Pro Prism is a retail management and point-of-sale (POS) system. A POS system records sales at the till and manages prices, stock and customers behind it. Integrated Retail is an authorised reseller of Retail Pro Prism in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
According to Retail Pro’s knowledge base, Retail Pro Prism promotions support eight core types:
- item discount, quantity discount, tiered discount and rolling discount;
- pack pricing and buy-one-get-one (BOGO);
- transaction discount and reward coupon.
Retailers can set a promotion to start “down to the minute”. That suits a sale that opens at midnight on 11 November. Promotions can be limited to chosen stores or price levels. They can also be triggered by an item, a customer, a receipt total or a coupon code. In addition, you control whether offers can be combined.
After the event, Retail Pro Reporting provides predefined reports, KPI dashboards and automated alerts. As a result, teams can see which offers lifted sales and which only cut margin.
Because each promotion can be scoped by store, multi-country retailers can run a different 11.11 or 12.12 offer in each market. Head office can then compare the results in Retail Pro Reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are the main double-day sales in Southeast Asia?
The best known are 9.9, 10.10, 11.11 and 12.12. In Indonesia, Harbolnas centres on 12 December. In 2025 it ran from 10 to 16 December.
Are double-day sales only for online retailers?
No. Shoppers compare prices across channels, so physical stores feel the effect too. Singapore’s retail sales rose 5.8% in November 2025, according to SingStat, and most of that spending still happened offline.
How far ahead should retailers plan for 11.11?
Early enough to agree offers, set up promotions in the POS, move stock and schedule staff. Last year’s results are the best guide to how long each step takes.
How do you measure whether a double-day sale worked?
Compare sales, transactions, average basket size and gross margin with a normal trading week. Also check how many sale shoppers came back afterwards.
Can Retail Pro Prism run different promotions in different countries?
Yes. Retail Pro Prism lets you choose which stores and price levels a promotion applies to. Integrated Retail can help you set this up across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
This article is adapted with permission from Retail Pro’s original post, Are Seasonal Sales Events Losing Their Luster?
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