Alibaba says Singles’ Day record sales show resilience in economy as firm seeks to turn future editions into ‘fun-filled’ event

Name: Amid pandemic, Chinese consumers spend US$74.1 billion during Singles’ Day online sales festival
Uploaded: 2020-11-17T04:55:03.000Z
Duration: 3 min 2 s
Description: Amid pandemic, Chinese consumers spend US$74.1 billion during Singles’ Day online sales festival

Alibaba to focus more on turning future 11.11 editions into ‘fun-filled’ event, less on breaking records, chairman and CEO Zhang says

The 11-day gala this year generated US$75.8 billion of gross sales, breaking last year’s record by 26 per cent

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Workers sorting out packages at a centre in Lianyungang in eastern Jiangsu province on November 11 during the record-breaking Singles' Day shopping spree. Photo: Xinhua

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 12:55pm, 17 Nov 2020Updated: 9:43pm, 17 Nov 2020

Alibaba Group Holding, which operates the biggest e-commerce platform, said the latest Singles’ Day shopping gala has produced “satisfactory” results, pointing to a resilient economy amid a rebound in consumption, chairman and chief executive Daniel Zhang Yong said.

Purchases by mainland consumers during the extended Singles’ Day festival – an 11-day event from November 1 to 11 – reached 498.2 billion yuan (US$75.8 billion), breaking last year’s one-day record by 26 per cent. Last year, the one-day sales drive on November 11 generated 268.4 billion yuan in gross merchandise volume. The group would focus more on turning the future editions into a fun-filled event.

“We want to keep up with the times,” Zhang told a seminar on new consumer trends in Shanghai late Monday. “The Singles’ Day event will be more entertaining and enjoyable as an increasing number of young consumers are looking to improve their lifestyle.”

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Amid pandemic, Chinese consumers spend US$74.1 billion during Singles’ Day online sales festival

Zhang expressed his gratitude to merchandisers, partners and other parties involved in (organising the event). “We have together generated satisfactory results,” he added.

China’s gross domestic product rose 4.9 per cent in the third quarter this year, making it the only bright spot among the world’s major economies stricken by the coronavirus pandemic. The world’s second-largest economy has expanded in two straight quarters since a historic slump in the first three months this year.

Alibaba, parent company of the Post, recorded a 30 per cent increase in revenue to 155.1 billion yuan in the quarter ended September 30, up from 119 billion yuan a year ago. While the volume was ahead of market consensus, the 30 per cent growth rate was the weakest on record.

It has 757 million active consumers across its online marketplaces such as Taobao and Tmall. Mobile monthly active users on these marketplaces reached 881 million in September.