Chinese villagers snap up Buicks, limited-edition Burberry scarves sell out in Singles’ Day promotion
- Some 33 major international brands have already achieved 100 million yuan (US$14.4 million) each in advance orders on Tmall
Cars from Buick, limited-edition scarves by Burberry and five-star hotel stay packages are some of the thingsChinese consumers are going gaga over as advance orders pour in days ahead of the world’s largest shopping festival – Singles’ Day – on November 11.
Some 33 major international brands have already achieved 100 million yuan (HK$113 million) each in advance orders on business-to-consumer retail platform Tmall, according to a statement from Alibaba Group Holding on Thursday. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
That trend bodes well for the prospects of Alibaba’s Singles’ Day promotion – also known as Double 11 – when it kicks off at a gala in Shanghai on Sunday marking the event’s 10th anniversary – potentially the largest ever. The company expects to achieve a record 1 billion orders.
This year, Alibaba has attracted the most merchants and consumers outside China to participate in the event since it started the 24-hour shopping festivalin 2009. For the first time, Southeast Asian subsidiary Lazada Group will jointly hold Singles’ Day promotions across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Apart from online shopping platforms Taobao Marketplace, Tmall and Lazada, the Singles’ Day activities of Alibaba will include food delivery service Ele.me, food and lifestyle services arm Koubei, supermarket chain Hema, hypermart operator RT-Mart and the company’s other offline retail units.