Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit new record of USD 38 billion

E-commerce giant Alibaba's Singles' Day sales hit another record of USD 38.38 billion, even amid concerns of slowing economic growth and trade tensions with the United States. The Alibaba Group's various shopping platforms' total GMV exceeded USD 10 billion in just 29:45 seconds, and broke last year's record sales figure after 16 hours 31 minutes of the Global Shopping Festival going live.

At the close of the 24-hr shopping extravaganza, the total GMV stood at RMB 268.4 billion (USD 38.379 billion). According to Alibaba, the year-on-year GMV growth registered a 25.7 per cent rise, while the number of delivery orders stood at a massive 1.292 billion. The sales figure of this year's 11.11 Global Shopping Festival was keenly watched amid rising trade war concerns between China and the US.

"We have maintained rapid growth in terms of number of customers, new sales. Robust domestic demand is driving the economy," said Fan Jiang President of Taobao and Tmall.

Alibaba's Tmall platform is China's biggest B2C marketplace for both Chinese and international brands and retailers, while Taobao is a leading Chinese online shopping website owned by Alibaba. As many as 15 brands surpassed RMB1 billion in GMV including Apple,  Haier, Huawei, Nike, XiaomI, adidas, L'oreal and Estee Lauder among others, Alibaba said.

During the 11.11 shopping festival some of the major countries/regions that bought from China in terms of  GMV include Russia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States, Australia, Malaysia and Japan, Alibaba said. The 11.11 shopping festival began in 2009 with participation from just 27 merchants has evolved into a global shopping festival, Chris Tung  CMO of Alibaba Group said.

Last year it raked in a record USD 30.8 billion in GMV, eclipsing the Cyber Monday sales of USD 7.9 billion and Black Friday sales at USD 6.22 billion. More than 200,000 brands participated in this year's event. The shopping festival, also known as Double 11 came to a close at mid-night on November 11.

The event is also referred as Singles' Day because of its date, 11/11 (November 11) consists of four 'ones', representing four singles, has emerged as the world's biggest shopping festival. The 11.11 Global Shopping Festival Gala Celebration saw performance by Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and a host of other international and local celebrities. 

More than 200,000 brands from 78 countries and regions participated in 11.11 this year, with one million new products on offer.

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