Alibaba looks to turn Singles’ Day into an international affair
Overseas business reported 60pc year-on-year growth last year, against an overall sales rise is 32pc
Alibaba Group Holding has pledged to turn this year’s Singles’ Day shopping spree into an international affair, with plans to promote 100 indigenous brands abroad, and offer more foreign products and services to mainland buyers.
The Hangzhou-based company expected the pace of growth in international transactions will be faster than its domestic sales. Its international business posted 60 per cent year-on-year growth last year, against an overall sales increase of 32 per cent.
International growth will be bigger as the e-commerce giant looks to export what it calls as the “China phenomenon” in retail to other parts of the globe.
“It will not only be a shopping festival for Chinese, but it will attract more foreigners to participate because commerce is a borderless world,” said Alibaba chief executive Daniel Zhang Yong. “We want the ‘China phenomenon’ to spread to the whole world.”
Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, did not disclose its targets for this year’s November 11 online shopping festival, but Zhang said the event would help the company better promote its globalised ecosystem.