China's Alibaba Holds Massive "Double 11" Sale, Generating $9.3 Billion in Transactions in a Single Day

Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, held its annual massive sale event on November 11th (Double 11), known in China as "Singles' Day." Total transactions for the 24-hour period reached $9.3 billion. This figure significantly surpassed the previous year's $5.8 billion. It also far exceeded the $5.3 billion recorded during last year's Thanksgiving period in the US (a five-day span including Black Friday and Cyber Monday).

This marked the sixth year of the company's sale event. Alibaba invited over 600 journalists to its headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. As the transaction amount was displayed in real-time on a large screen, the figure hit $2 billion within just one hour after the event started at midnight. Furthermore, the scale was record-breaking across the board: over 27,000 participating brands were featured on its two online shopping platforms, Tmall and Taobao, with more than 1 billion sale items available.

A key feature of this year's event was the surge in mobile commerce transactions. The proportion of transactions via mobile devices reached approximately 43%, a sharp increase from 5% in 2012 and 21% in 2013. Furthermore, for the first time, overseas customers could purchase through the company's e-commerce platform "AliExpress," marking a step towards the event's internationalization. Jack Ma, the founder and chairman, stated that the company aims for full-scale globalization within the next two to three years.

Looking at sales by brand, emerging smartphone maker Xiaomi took the top spot. Second place also went to a smartphone brand, Huawei Technologies, while Haier, an appliance maker, took third. According to CNBC, among international brands, Uniqlo made it into the top five. This event also presented a prime opportunity for international brands to expand sales. This year saw the first participation of brands like Haig Club whisky (pictured), produced by former soccer star David Beckham in collaboration with Diageo, as well as Clinique and Calvin Klein.

China surpassed the U.S. last year to become the world's largest online retail market (Mintel data). Alibaba Group, the country's largest player, listed on the New York Stock Exchange this September, raising a record $25 billion in its IPO.

Source: Ad Age
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