This year’s Singles Day event in China, also known as Guanggun Jie, has broken sales records, with more international companies taking part in the event. Consumers spent more than last year’s total of $9.3bn within the first 12 hours of the event.
Total gross merchandise volume (GMV) for this year’s event was more than $10bn, with 70% of sales taking place on mobile devices. The Alibaba Group said that £2bn was spent on its website within an hour of the event’s midnight launch.
The event, which is put on for consumers that are single, was kicked off with a four-hour long variety show hosted by Alibaba and featuring James Bond actor Daniel Craig and House of Cards star Kevin Spacey. This year’s sale was predicted to be a record breaker, with Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang commenting: “The whole world will witness the power of Chinese consumption this November 11.”
Alibaba described this year’s event as “the most international yet” with brands from 25 countries taking part. International brands joining in the sale included Unilever, P&G, Burberry, Estée Lauder, Macy’s, Costco, Topshop and Uniqlo.
A number of retailers joined in the retail event, but Alibaba’s Tmall was said to be the most popular site. Shirley Sha, Account Director at Millward Brown China, said: "Without actual stores established in China yet, leveraging Tmall's platform is likely to be a growing trend for international retailers and brands to better connect with their Chinese consumers."
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