(Image Source: The Straits Times)
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba recorded more than US$56 billion in sales on Singles’ Day, exceeding its 2019 sales of US$38 billion; demonstrating the economic potential of China’s post-covid recovery.
The sale has come amid an economic rebound in China with the spread of the novel coronavirus kept under control. This also comes as a relief to Alibaba Group Holding which saw a drop of 10% in market value due to the suspension of Ant Group’s IPO.
Singles’ Day was launched by Alibaba in 2009. This year, the company started the shopping event earlier to provide lesser-known sellers more exposure. The shopping event trended on China’s Weibo, while a poll of Singles’ Day spending by Sina Entertainment found that 44% of respondents had aimed to spend less than 1,000 yuan. 66% of Chinese consumers were also planning to spend more on domestic brands over foreign labels on Singles’ Day.
At 12:30 am local time (1630 GMT) on Nov 11, Alibaba’s gross merchandise volume surpassed US$56.3 billion with orders peaking at a record of 583,000 per second. Thus far, the gross merchandise volume for 2020 is already double the amount of 2019’s US$38.4 billion.
Source: Alibaba passes $75 billion in sales as post-virus Singles’ Day gets into full swing
