Mobile Drives Singles’ Day Sales Beyond $25B

RAPAPORT… Shoppers bought $25.3 billion worth of merchandise through e-commerce
platform Alibaba during Singles’ Day, the China-based company reported Sunday.



The figures marked a 39% increase over last year’s numbers
for the Chinese shopping holiday, which falls out each year on November 11 —
hence its alternative title, the 11/11 Global Shopping Festival. In the first
two hours alone, Alibaba recorded $12 billion in purchases via its Alipay
system.


Mobile transactions accounted for 90% of the day’s total
sum, the company noted, compared with 82% last year. More than 140,000 brands
and merchants participated in the sales event, Alibaba added.


Singles’ Day has been part of the Chinese retail calendar
since 2009. The event, which has drawn comparisons to Black Friday and Cyber
Monday in the US, reportedly began as a celebration of singlehood.


“More than $25 billion…in one day is not just a sales
figure,” said Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang. “It represents the aspiration for
quality consumption of the Chinese consumer, and it reflects how merchants and
consumers alike have now fully embraced the integration of online and offline
retail.”