Why shopping on China’s Singles’ Day and US Black Friday differ so much

China’s voracious appetite for online shopping is perhaps best shown by the billions of dollars spent online in minutes on Singles’ Day. But the Black Friday shopping frenzy in the US plays out very differently, with consumers elbowing each other and even getting into fights in their attempts to grab heavily discounted flat-screen televisions or Xbox gaming consoles in stores like Walmart.

How the world’s two best-known shopping events play out highlights not just the sheer spending power of Chinese shoppers and general consumer sentiment amid growing economic uncertainty in an escalating US-China trade war, but also the major differences in retail ecosystems in the top two economies.