“It’s more like a vibe and gimmicks. People will not go out and shop in particular on November 11,” he said.

Singles’ Day is an unofficial mainland celebration and shopping event designed to celebrate people who are not in a relationship.

This year’s event comes as Hong Kong’s economy posts slower growth than the government earlier predicted.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said this week the revised gross domestic product (GDP) for the year was expected to be between 3 and 4 per cent, below a previous estimate of 4 to 5 per cent.

The government is expected to reveal the revised third quarter GDP figure on Friday afternoon.

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Start-up Greater Bay Airlines, in its first Singles’ Day sale, offered fares from as low as HK$490 (US$63) for a return ticket on its new route to Manila and on existing services to Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok, Taipei, Seoul, Osaka and Tokyo.

“To help raise the awareness of the airline, we roll out different promotion campaigns from time to time,” said Gloria Slethaug, the airline’s general manager.

An American newspaper has also offered an 80 per cent reduction for an annual digital subscription, down from HK$80 a month to HK$16 a month.

The economic downturn has caused many retailers and e-commerce platforms to take advantage of the huge popularity of Singles’ Day by introducing their own November discounts in a bid to boost sales.

Alibaba’s “Taobao Tmall 11.11 Global Shopping Festival” site saw double-digit growth in gross merchandise volume in Hong Kong compared with the previous year during the first sales period, which ran from October 31 to November 3.

But the e-commerce giant did not disclose the gross merchandise volume figures for last year.

The second phase of the promotion will start at 8pm on Friday and run to 11.59pm on Saturday.

Many of the promotions are available through online and offline sales channels.

Hong Kong retailers have signed up in droves, from beauty and skincare to shoes and clothing, and including shopping centres and supermarkets.

Online retailer HKTVMall has offered existing users e-vouchers worth HK$3,000 from November 2 to December 30. The vouchers cover a range of everyday necessities and lifestyle goods, including personal care, sports equipment, fashion accessories and kitchen appliances, as well as purchases at supermarkets.

The platform recorded a monthly gross merchandise value on order intake of HK$711 million in October, a month-on-month increase of 3 per cent. Monthly active app users also rose 2.3 per cent to 1.67 million.

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Cheung Suk-kuen, 53, a stay-at-home mother of three children, said the HKTVMall offers were attractive and stocked up on Japanese rice and laundry detergent, making a saving of HK$100 for every HK$300 purchase.

“I wasn’t aware of the mainland’s Singles’ Day sales until my friend told me about it.” she said. “And I’m surprised the app offered me steep discounts because I did not realise Hong Kong is also offering some great deals this month.”

Retail chains in the city were also making special offers to boost sales online and offline. At the Sasa cosmetics shop on Kai Chiu Road in Causeway Bay, some items were marked down as low as 72 per cent off.

Yuki Yung Ching-yu, a 28-year-old receptionist, was among a dozen people queuing at the cash register on Thursday. She bought nine items for about HK$1,500 and said her biggest bargain was an Origins soothing lotion at HK$108, originally priced at HK$390.

“I also got a bottle of La Mer treatment lotion at HK$688 after a 51 per cent off discount, she said. “Of course I will still be hunting for great deals online on November 11, but I just can’t resist shopping when I see a big discount at the store.

“The earlier you buy them, the earlier you can enjoy them.”