Alibaba sales break Singles’ Day record in China

Internet giant Alibaba broke its own sales record of $9.3bn during China’s “Singles Day” 24-hour online shopping binge on Wednesday, defying fears of an economic slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

Singles Day, also called Double Eleven as it’s held on 11 November, has eventually become an important annual event for retailers that are Chinese. The idea is that if you’re single, you have no commitments (at least not as far as a partner or kids are concerned) meaning that you should “celebrate” by going spending on things that you want.

The focus for the day’s shopping frenzy was an extravaganza at the Water Cube in Beijing, where Ma welcomed such luminaries as the unfeasibly popular Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai, alongside Korean superstars Rain and CNBlue in a show directed by one of the country’s leading filmmakers, Feng Xiaogang. It’s also well above the $2.4 billion sold on Cyber Monday, the biggest online sales day in the U.S. Just over one third of total sales, around $5 billion, happened in the first 90 minutes of the day and last year’s total of $9.3 billion was surpassed about halfway through the day.

Alibaba plans to bring goods from USA small and midsize businesses to consumers in Asia, where there is demand for unique and high-quality products, Ma said as the company was wrapping up its Singles’ Day shopping promotion.

Alibaba’s Singles Day is a shopping event introduced in 2009 during which Alibaba encourages single Chinese people to spoil themselves with gifts on the day.

This year, the Chinese e-commerce giant exceeded sales of $1bn (£659m, €929m), within the first eight minutes since the event commenced.

They’ve hit record sales over the last several years, each year getting better than before. By two P.M. on the national shopping day, online-retail firm Alibaba reported that online sales had climbed to $10 billion.

Alibaba chief Executive Daniel Zhang had said in a statement that the event would mean “the whole world will witness the power of Chinese consumption”.

Alibaba said this year there would be over 40,000 merchants, and 30,000 brands from 25 countries selling goods on its platforms.

Where does Singles Day come from? The ceremony featured appearances from Chinese celebrities and singers, along with Daniel Craig and Kevin Spacey.