Each year on Nov. 11th, China celebrates an event called Singles’ Day. The date (11/11) is a symbol for those unwed and stands as an anti-Valentine’s Day celebration. Chinese retailers have turned it into a sales mega event and this year it has turned global, with a lot of help from Alibaba’s marketplaces.
Inspired by US sales shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Alibaba decided to take the event global. The campaign was a huge success and overcame any expectations. It was so big that it accounted for more sales than Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the US. Combined.
But let’s have a look at the hard facts post-sales bonanza:
- Alibaba registered a total of $9.3 billion in sales in just one day;
- The company registered a peak sales of $2 billion in just one hour;
- Consumers from 217 countries bought merchandise from AliExpress, Tmall and Taobao;
- 1.2 million household appliances and 50.000 cars were purchased;
- The campaign was aimed at attracting China’s 360 million online shoppers (yup, that’s more than the entire US population), as well as shoppers all over the world.
Pretty good for a singles’ holiday.