Alibaba’s Singles’ Day registers $25.4-B haul
Alibaba shuttered the tills on its biggest Singles’ Day shopping festival to date — a $25.4-billion haul that saw Chinese shoppers snap up more than $1 billion worth of mobile phones, shoes and lipsticks every hour.
More than 777 million parcels were shipped out in what has become the biggest day by far in the global retail calendar. “It speaks to the upgrading of consumption in China,” said Daniel Zhang, chief executive of the Chinese tech group.
It is also a measure of the explosive growth witnessed in China. Alibaba has turned Singles’ Day — numerically written as 11.11 — into an event many times bigger than any US shopping day sales. The company is now one of the 10 most valuable companies in the world.
Saturday’s Rmb168 billion of sales was within sight of the Rmb240-billion total retail sales of consumer goods in China in April 1999, the month Alibaba was founded — not accounting for inflation or exchange rates. Nine out of 10 purchases were made via mobile phones.
“This is a gigantic day for the Alibaba economy,” said Joe Tsai, executive vice- chairman. The company is not shy of hyperbole — it aims to be bigger than the world’s fifth- biggest economy and serve two billion customers by 2036. It forecasts total group revenues will rise by 49-53% this year.
Alibaba stressed its international and rural focus this year, citing a farmer from Shandong province who sold more than 400,000 duck eggs alongside the sales of brands such as Nike, Uniqlo and Nestlé
While the $25.4 billion spent is big — storming past last year’s $18 billion — it stands to be whittled back by returns. Alibaba says these are less than 10%, but has acknowledged a dip in merchants’ sales in the days following as a result of front-ended buying.
Analysts have also queried Alibaba’s ability to keep increasing sales, and founder and chairman Jack Ma has himself hinted at a switch away from gross merchandise volume (GMV), the metric used to measure total sales.
“It’s shifting to other metrics outside GMV and entertainment is a big part of that,” said Tom Birtwhistle, consulting director at PwC Consulting in Hong Kong. He added that possible future measures such as engagement would encompass the whole ecosystem.
This year’s bonanza also emphasized the company’s plans to remake the retail experience by blending online shopping and physical stores and to reach out internationally.
This year celebrities including Pharrell Williams and Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who gamely spoke a few words in Mandarin, brought international sparkle to a gala that was equal parts variety show and unabashed commerce.
Mr. Zhang highlighted the entertainment element, noting that more than 34 billion videos had been played. “Entertainment and interaction are now increasingly becoming a part of e- commerce,” he said.