This year Alibaba flew past last year’s Single’s Day sales record just halfway through the event.
Advertisement
Alibaba Group holds an annual 24-hour online shopping sales event on November 11.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma said Wednesday the coming year could be rocky for China as the country presses a crackdown on excessive spending by government employees and continues its economic transition.
“This year, Alibaba Group has transformed 11.11 into an unprecedented mobile shopping experience”, said CEO of Alibaba Daniel Zhang.
While he was unable to provide early sales numbers, he said the company was seeing a very strong performance compared to a year ago.
Singles’ Day, named for the numerologically auspicious double 11 date, was originally a mock celebration for people not in relationships, and features steep discounts and other promotions aimed at attracting droves of customers online.
In comparison, Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day on the U.S. calendar, netted $1.35 billion, according to the data analytics firm ComScore. “Over the course of the 24-hour marathon, consumers will have a new surprise every hour that has been especially tailored for mobile users”.
Sales for the Hangzhou-headquartered company during Singles Day in 2014 grossed just over $9bn and the company is on track to beat the figure this year.
If you’ve been wondering what the size of the Chinese e-commerce market is, look further than Alibaba’s “Singles Day” sales today.
Alibaba said $14.32 billion was spent on the website during Singles Day.
Singles’ Day has become a hugely lucrative event for China’s retailers.
The tech giant accounts for over 80% of China’s internet sales market.
It predicts that 1.7 million couriers, 400,000 vehicles and 200 planes will be making deliveries of products that range from electronics goods to cosmetics despite slowing growth in China.
Alibaba remotely rings the NYSE opening bell on November 11, 2015, from Beijing where the company is winding up its Singles Day shopping promotion.
Advertisement
If that seems like a grandiose way of describing online shopping, it’s worth remembering that the future of the Chinese economy likely hinges on its ability to transition from a growth model based on industrial development to a more sustainable model driven by consumption.
