The Star Malaysia

Singles Day makes a huge splash this year

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BEijiNg: Fiji vacation packages, iPhone Xs and even an Aston Martin powerboat – these were some of the things shoppers bought on this year’s Singles Day.

Such purchases give a glimpse into how Chinese consumers are shifting from bagging a bargain on everyday merchandis­e to scooping up higher-priced, higher-quality goods and experience­s on the biggest event on the world’s retail calendar.

The promotiona­l event is growing in size, variety and sophistica­tion as technology improves services. Sales topped 100 million yuan (RM63mil) for each of 167 merchants using platforms of internet behemoth Alibaba Group, and shoppers plunked down just over US$1bil (RM4.2bil) an hour during the day-long discount gala.

A user from Guizhou province splurged on a 17 million yuan (RM10.7mil) Aston Martin powerboat, becoming the most extravagan­t spender on Alibaba’s Tmall platform.

The event had humble beginnings in 2009, as Alibaba used a holiday for singles – the numerical date looks like four single people – and turned it into an online discount day.

This year, Alibaba’s platforms tallied total sales of 168.2 billion yuan (RM106bil), up 39.3% from last year, and No 2 platform JD. com logged 127.1 billion yuan (RM80bil) during an 11-day promotion through Saturday.—

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