Alibaba generated US $23bn in just nine hours via its immensely popular Singles Day, and more than US $1bn came in during the first minute of the promotion. To put this all into context Alibaba generated the equivalent of two thirds of the entire revenue that Amazon made in the whole of its third quarter 2019. The 24 hours Singles Day event was expected to attract 500 million buyers this year, 100 million more than 2018, and was launched with a live performance from Taylor Swift.
Some 200,000 brands have taken part, with a little over 10 per cent coming from 78 countries beyond China. Market watchers say that the phenomenal revenues generated are the result of months of focused promotion by individual merchants to entice consumers ahead of the sales event, only enabling actual purchases on Singles Day itself.
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