SINGLES’ DAY SALES HIT US$1B IN 68 SECONDS
84 brands recorded over 100m yuan in receipts each in the first hour
CHINESE retailer Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said yesterday sales for its annual Singles’ Day shopping blitz crossed the US$30 billion (RM124.3 billion) mark at 4.31pm, putting the event on track to set a record in its 11th year.
The figure is equivalent to over 80 per cent of United States rival Amazon.com Inc’s online store sales in the latest quarter and matches takings across Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms on Singles’ Day last year.
Sales growth for the full 24hour event, however, was likely to fall short of the year earlier, said analysts, held back by a slowing overall e-commerce industry in China at a time when the country’s economic expansion is heading towards a historic low.
The event, a gauge of Chinese consumer sentiment, has also become a shop window this year for Alibaba as the firm plans to sell US$15 billion worth of shares in Hong Kong this month.
But sales growth for Alibaba on Singles’ Day has weakened as China’s economy slowed. Last year, it posted a 27 per cent yearon-year sales increase, the lowest in the event’s 10-year history. Citic Securities forecasts sales to rise 20 to 25 per cent this year.
The Chinese retail juggernaut, with a market value of US$486 billion, kicked off this year’s 24hour shopping bonanza with a live performance by US pop star Taylor Swift followed by livestreamed marketing of over 1,000 brands.
Sales hit US$1 billion after one minute and eight seconds and reached 158.31 billion yuan (RM93.6 billion) in the first nine hours, up 25 per cent from the same point last year, it said.
The firm said 84 brands including those of Apple Inc, L’Oreal SA and Fast Retailing Co Ltd’s Uniqlo, each made over 100 million yuan in sales in the first hour.
Over half of merchants on its Tmall marketplace used live streaming to sell products during the event, and sales generated through the medium surpassed 10 billion yuan at 8.55am, said Alibaba.
The firm has said it expects more than 500 million users to make purchases this year, about 100 million more than last year.
This is the first time Alibaba’s Singles’ Day is being held since its flamboyant co-founder Jack Ma resigned as chairman in September to “start a new life”.
JD.com, which started its Singles’ Day promotions on Nov 1, said transaction volume over the 11 days through yesterday afternoon reached 179.4 billion yuan.