On the day of the world’s biggest online shopping event launched by Alibaba, it broke its own record in just 90 min. Alibaba witnessed the sale of $1 billion in the first 5 min on the opening. In the first hour of sale, it reached to $5 Billion, including the lock-in price orders placed by consumers.
Last year, the company earned about $14.3 Billion in one day. This record was reached this year in merely 90 minutes. Of all the purchases, 85% were made by using mobile phones.
Michael Evans, President of Alibaba Group, said that he was pretty confident about the success of this festival and knew the day hosen is also in a right place. Singles Day festival is launched each year on November 11. It is also called as Double Eleven due to its date. Initially launched for young population, it was later changed to a shopping benison.
This day was first started in 1990 as an Anti Valentine’s Day. Further in 2009, the company started using giving discounts on its online shopping platforms to boost the revenues on this day, which otherwise is a slack season for the company.
This idea clicked many international brands and they board this journey. Over 14,000 brands around the globe took part in 2016 sale. Discounts on products provided by companies such as Nike, Siemens, and Apple were the best sellers. Local appliance producers such as Haier and Meizu showed strong sells too.
Moreover, Alibaba made this day an international event by inviting famous football player David Beckham and his fashion designer wife Victoria along with retired NBA icon Kobe Bryant and Jack Ma at ‘countdown gala’.
Overall, the analysts concluded that Alibaba witnessed a cutthroat rise in sales despite a slowdown in China’s economy. The reason behind this is assumed to be the broader audience this event has.