China record: $25B in shopping in a day
SHANGHAI— Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, said on Saturday that its Singles’ Day sales extravaganza hit $25.4 billion, smashing its own record from last year and cementing it as the world’s biggest shopping event. Once a celebration for China’s lonely hearts, Singles’ Day has become an annual 24-hour buying frenzy that exceeds combined sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States. As tills shut midnight on Saturday, Alibaba’s live sales ticker registered a 39-percent hike from last year. Sales in just over an hour hit $10 billion.