Halfway through the 24-hour online sales bonanza in China, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. had blown past last year’s total of 57.1 billion yuan ($9 billion) sold through its online channels Tmall and Taobao.
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Sales reached US$9.3 billion for the day last year – the first time the event was expanded globally – up 60 percent year-on-year, the company’s figures showed.
Singles’ Day, originally a mock celebration for people not in relationships, features steep discounts and other promotions aimed at attracting droves of customers online.
This Single’s Day is poised to eclipse the $9 billion spent previous year – savings that many Chinese say they’ve been putting away for this very day.
Huge demand from China caused a shortage of premium organic baby milk formula in Australia. Single consumers are encouraged to purchase a gift for themselves.
It clearly worked. By midday Chinese time, the spend had already surpassed last year’s total of $9bn for the whole day.
Alibaba’s shares fell 2.8 percent to $79.19 at 11:32 a.m.in NY, extending a 22 percent decline this year through Tuesday. And it wasn’t just Alibaba users trying to get their hands on Xiaomi – the company was the top smartphone brand on JD and Suning’s platforms during Singles Day, too.
“China is a big market with close to one billion smart connected device users – it is a good news for both Alibaba and their competitors”, she said. By spending it up on Singles’ Day – China’s annual anti-Valentine’s Day festival for all things singledom. Bachelor’s Day was later renamed Singles Day to include women.
Earlier, Alibaba was indicating that this year’s Singles’ Day shopping event would set a new record.
In August, Alibaba recorded a first quarter non-GAAP earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation of $1.7 billion, up 23 percent from the same quarter past year. The Chinese government also encouraged the event, as China’s economy is slowing down and the country is transitioning into a more sustainable economic model.
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Chinese retail competitor JD.com also benefited from the day, which was concocted by Alibaba six years ago and named for all the “ones” in the date November 11.
