Single’s Day sales rocket in the first few hours and nearly double year on year
Alibaba broke records again on China’s “Single’s Day” when 12.2bn yuan ($2bn) worth of goods were traded within the first two hours of the day. By the last of the 11th of the 11th month Alibaba had generated 57.1bn ($9.3bn) in total. This represents a 62% rise year on year and will result in more than 150m packages being delivered across China.
In 2013 it took Alibaba almost six hours to reach the 10bn yuan mark, compared to just 38 minutes this year. With giants like Alibaba and rival JD.com taking such huge sums, China looks set to become the world’s first $1tn online retail market by as early as 2019.
Interestingly, around 43% of total sales were ordered by mobile, reflecting an increasing trend toward on-the-go purchases. JD.com, which did not provide sales figures, did say that more than 40% of orders were placed using mobile devices.
Keen to capitalize on the spree, Great Wall Lubricants also slashed prices of its lubricants across Tmall, Alibaba’s dedicated B2C platform. The producer’s flagship Jinjixing J700F 5W-30 was reduced from 949 yuan per litre down to just 528 yuan. The lubes giant also collected consumer responses and feedback in exchange for red envelopes as a data collection exercise.
Originally started in 1933, China’s “Single’s Day” on 11/11 represents all the single digits together. Previously held as a celebration of singledom, the holiday has now transformed into an online shopping bonanza.