TMCnet News
Alibaba breaks its own sales record on Singles Day(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Shanghai, Nov 11 (EFE).- China's online retail giant Alibaba broke its own all-time online sales record, coinciding with the celebration Tuesday of Singles' Day in China. As confirmed by accounts on various social networks, Alibaba's e-commerce portals surpassed their previous sales record in only 13 and a half hours, five years after the company launched the Singles' Day concept in 2009. Total sales exceeded $5.72 billion (35 billion Chinese Yuan) after 14 hours on Tuesday, thus pulverizing the record set on the same day last year. It seemed likely that by the end of the day, Alibaba's sales might exceed $8.162 billion (50 billion Chinese Yuan), in keeping with predictions by founder Ma Yun, known internationally by his cognomen, Jack Ma. Sales data includes goods purchased through two Alibaba portals: TMall.com, which is responsible for company-to-consumer sales; and Taobao.com, which manages the exchange of goods between individuals. Combined, they are considered the largest virtual markets in China. Sales posts on both sites reached about 170 million, a number that could increase even further on Wednesday. This business strategy of discounts aimed at boosting sales in a season of commercial slowdown (similar to Black Friday in the United States) proved contagious within the e-commerce sector and many online retail portals now provide promotional offers on this day. An online market research study y local pollster CTR on Monday confirmed that 82 percent of 5,584 surveyed respondents said they had saved to purchase goods online on Singles' Day. At least 93 percent said that they would purchase from Taobao or TMall, while another 35 percent said they would do the same but through JD.com, Alibaba's main rival. At the same time, 74 percent confirmed that they planned to acquire clothes and accessories, while hats and shoes were the most frequently mentioned items in the survey's responses. The occasion could benefit the Spanish clothing giant Zara, which began operations in October through a virtual store within TMall. A partner at British auditor PriceWaterhouseCoopers' consulting office in Shanghai, Ivy W. Kuo, opined that Singles' Day and its accompanying sales spike is the main reason behind Zara's interest in the TMall virtual portal, since Zara already has had its own virtual portal in China since 2012. EFE jad/ma/fa/bl/amg (c) 2014 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc. |