Photo: Alibaba
Singles Day, the single biggest retailing day of the year across the globe, racked up $14.3 billion in sales last year. This year’s event is expected to reach $20 billion in sales by its close and apparently has already set a new record by reaching $15 billion after 19 hours and 37 minutes. Chinese shoppers scooped up offers as soon as the event began, spending $1 billion worth of sales in the first five minutes and $5 billion in the first hour. Consumers using mobile phones have accounted for 85 percent of purchases made.
Singles Day is seen as an opportunity for foreign brands to make inroads into the Chinese market. Brands from outside China represented 10 percent of total dollar transactions during last year’s event, according to Alibaba. The e-tail giant listed Apple’s iPhone 7, Beats headphones, Nike items and Dyson products among top sellers so far this year on its company blog.
“Many foreign brands, with and without local China presence, will use this shopping event to further raise their brand profile with Chinese consumers,” said Andria Cheng, an analyst at eMarketer, told Bloomberg.
- Live Updates: Alibaba’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival – Alizila
- Alibaba Tops Singles’ Day Record as Chinese Consumers Rally – Bloomberg
- Alibaba Smashes Sales Records On Singles' Day Hype – Forbes
- Singles Day: Alibaba closes in on record sales – BBC News
- Alibaba’s huge global sale sells $1B in first 5 minutes – USA Today
- Swinging Singles’ Day: Alibaba Holiday Drives Shoppers in China – The Wall Street Journal (sub. required)
- Should American retailers co-opt Singles Day – RetailWire