Alibaba’s Singles Day bonanza clocked in a record $30.8 billion in sales over a 24 hour-period.
November 11 (11/11) is celebrated in China as Singles Day for people who are single in terms of their relationship status. China’s largest e-commerce giant Alibaba seems to have been successfully milking the occasion, with its online sales registering a solid +27% increase compared to the same time last year. The growth rate was even faster in 2017 (at 40%).
Interestingly, the country which ranked the second highest in terms of goods sold on Alibaba on Singles Day was the U.S. – notwithstanding the ongoing trade tensions and tariff-slapping rounds between China and the U.S. Although Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma expressed his concerns in September that the trade war is a headwind to the company's business, Singles Day seems to have turned out resilient. The company’s executives attributed the Day's sales success and the company's strong long-term potential to a burgeoning Chinese middle class. Japan and South Korea took the first and third spots respectively in the shopping volume on the website.