Hangzhou (China): Setting a new record, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has posted 24.3 per cent jump in total sales to $38.3 billion during the 11th edition of mega Singles’ Day shopping event.
The high-double digit growth in the Global Shopping Festival, branded as Double 11, holds high hopes for the Chinese economy which has slowed down in the wake of global trade war and sagging demand.
The e-commerce behemoth had recorded total sales of $30.8 billion worth of merchandise during its one-day shopping event in 2018.
In what suggests strong domestic consumption demand, Alibaba’s sales across its various platforms crossed $10 billion within half an hour of the global shopping festival, 2019 kicking off on Sunday midnight.
The shopping blitz saw 200,000 brands participating in the mega event which has over the years become an important date in the Chinese calendar.
Chris Tung, CMO, Alibaba Group said that Double 11 Global Shopping Festival has transformed itself from a promotional event into a global phenomenon.
He further said that Alibaba platforms support brands from all over the world including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to engage with their online customers.
The mega shopping event now kicks off with pomp and grandeur. In the hours leading up to the shopping event on Sunday night, mega star Taylor Swift besides other domestic and international celebrities performed.
The Singles’ Day 24-hour sales which offer deals and bargains to millions of shoppers has surpassed the sales of all similar events such as Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
On Sunday night, the sales on Alibaba platforms skyrocketed to $1 billion within two minutes. The number of orders created at peak of this year’s Global Shopping Festival reached 544,000 orders in a second, 1,360 times that of the first edition of the festival in 2009.
Among various factors which drove Alibaba group’s Singles’ Day sales were live streaming and fusion of online and offline retails. Live streaming by sellers has been engaging more customers with their fun-filled digital content.
Alibaba has been bringing more and more brands and products from across the world to China to meet the diverse needs of the local shoppers.
Companies from across the world are leveraging Alibaba platform to push their sales. The 11th edition of the Singles’ Day festival saw higher sales from across categories such as beauty care, health supplements, electronics and apparels.
A host of global brands such as Apple, Nike, Puma, Adidas and Panasonic participated in the Singles’ Day sales.
Fan Jiang, President of Taobao and Tmall said that fusion of online and offline had also contributed to the gross merchandise value (GMV) of sales.
GMV is the aggregate value of all goods and services sold in a particular period.
(Nirbhay Kumar is in Hangzhou on Alibaba’s invitation)