INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
After 24 hours of frenzied buying and selling, and weeks of aggressive advertising and promotions before it, the Alibaba Group said today
its sales hit another record high on Singles& Day, the biggest shopping day on the planet.
The Chinese e-commerce giant said its platforms
sold goods worth 268 billion yuan, or $38.4 billion today, easily exceeding last year record $30.7 billion haul
Electronics gadgets and fashion items were among the most sold goods in the 11th edition of the Singles& Day annual event, company
executives said in an interview.
More than half a billion people from a number of countries participate in the event, which is China
equivalent to Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Except… Singles& Day is much larger
The five-day Black Friday clocked less than $25 billion in sales last year
Cyber Monday clocked less than $8 billion
Alibaba Group said earlier today that it had netted its first $1 billion in sales in just 68 seconds and first $10 billion in half an
hour.
To bridge people in China and those living elsewhere, Alibaba also maintains a number of dedicated websites
AliExpress sells goods from Chinese brands to international residents; Tmall sells goods from global brands to China; and Taobao sells
Chinese brands& goods to people in China
Lazada, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group that caters to Southeast Asian markets, saw the number of buyers and merchants double this year
&This year, both buyers and merchants have more than doubled and we&ve already seen a series of record-breaking moments
We&re looking forward to sharing even more good news,& said Yin Jing,co-president of Lazada.
The retail giant said earlier today that dozens
of brands, including Apple, L&Oreal and Dyson, had received more than 100 million yuan, or $14 million, in pre-orders.
The shopping glitz
hosted a number of celebrities, including Taylor Swift and Asian pop icon GEM, to generate buzz
This year, the Hangzhou-headquartered firm also focused on live-streaming via its platform, a phenomenon that has gained significant
traction in China.
In a live-streamed video, Kim Kardashian announced last week that her fragrance brand KKW will be sold on Tmall this
Singles& Day.
One figure who was missing from the action was Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, who retired in September this year
In previous years, Ma hasnot only delivered powerful speeches but also put on performances for employees and customers.
At a press briefing
an hour ago, Alibaba Chief Technology Officer Jeff Zhang described 11.11 as an &airplane flying at turbo speed,& adding that making this
supposed airplane more efficient has been the company biggest focus.
One such improvement is a logistics network, which is still a laggard
Last week, Alibaba Group announced it was investing an additional $3.3 billion in logistics unit Cainiao, which it co-founded with a number
of other companies six years ago.
The biggest challenge for Alibaba remains the expansion of JD.com and Pinduoduo, both of which have
better hold over the smaller cities and towns and more organized logistics networks
The three of them are locked in an intense battle, with each one bandying out billions of dollars in discounts to lure — and sustain —
customers every year.
Like Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo also host similar campaigns each year
JD.com sales, which began November 1, had crossed $23.6 billion as of early today
This model has also been replicated by Amazon and Walmart -owned Flipkart in India, Qoo10 in Singapore and 11th Street in South
Korea.
Today milestone should help Alibaba win some more confidence from shareholders when it begins selling shares worth $15 billion in
Hong Kong later this month.
Singles& Day: China $25 billion shopping festival explained
Singles& Day event falls on November 11 every year
and is also known as &double 11.& The event is dedicated to people who are not in a relationship.
