China Prepares for Regional Retail Extravaganza
While Western market face potentially one of the worst fourth quarters ever, China is gearing up for a Singles Day sales growth that is set to surge past last year’s already staggering revenue.
This year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival offered two shopping windows. The initial sales window ran from Nov. 1-3 and saw brands notch some impressive numbers. On Nov. 11, the second shopping window opens for 24 hours.
Singles' Day pre sales growth (Nov 1-3) saw 100 brands' sales hit $15 million in under 2 hours of launching. On rival JD.com, sales during this period were up 90% year-on-year. Both platforms have ramped up their logistics to be able to deliver more parcels - and deliver them faster.
Singles’ Day sales growth is considered by many as a barometer of the strength of China’s economy. However, in recent years it has become a global event, with growing engagement especially from other Asian nations, which play an important role in driving future growth.
Last year Alibaba reported that year-on-year growth for Singles’ Day slowed to 26 percent, down from the 27 percent year-on-year growth in 2018.
Still, for a one-day shopping event that generated $38.4 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), that’s not bad at all.
More importantly, Singles’ Day sales growth is not just about Alibaba, although the company does account for a lion’s share of the sales.
