Alibaba has completely shattered the record for online sales, recording a total of $14.3 billion during its Singles’ Day sale this year. Alibaba introduced the 24-hour sale – also known as the 11.11 Shopping Festival – in 2009 on its Tmall marketplace.
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Alibaba said $14.32 billion was spent on the website during Singles Day.
Ever since the holiday officially began at the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, Alibaba has giving sales updates.
Top-selling items included baby-related and nutritional products, Nike sneakers and Levi’s jeans, the company said.
In 2014, total Singles Day GMV settled through Alipay was about $9.3 billion. This year the event has even received support from the government at time when China’s economy is slowing down.
A Nielson survey showed, 56 percent of internet users in China will shop online on Single’s Day this year, with an estimated 17 hundred yuan to spend for each individual.
Alibaba turned November 11, or “11.11” into a 24-hour shopping splurge six years ago.
Alibaba featured 6 million products by 30,000 brands.
Last year, it took 38 minutes to hit the 10 billion yuan mark and the company is expected to easily break last year’s one-day sales record of 57.1 billion yuan (USD 10 billion).
“This year, Alibaba Group has transformed 11.11 into an unprecedented mobile shopping experience”, Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba said in a press release. The goal is to assist US businesses in becoming e-commerce companies like Amazon.com Inc. using Alibaba services, including its logistics, payments operation and cloud computing, he said.
During an earnings call in September, executives noted Alibaba is creating a stronger presence in Beijing to try to gain a bigger foothold in northern China, where e-commerce rival JD.com already has a significant presence. The stuttering performance overall of the world’s second largest economy has prompted global market anxiety in recent months.
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Over the years, the day has exploded in popularity.
