The world’s largest shopping event has kicked off with more than US$1bn in sales for Chinese e-tailer Alibaba during the first five minutes of Singles’ Day on 11 November, reports Bloomberg.
The 24-hour online shopping event in China is likely to see Alibaba’s sales top last year’s US$14.3bn, dwarfing the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shipping events in the US.
'Alibaba will likely break another Singles' Day sales record this year as bargain-seeking Chinese consumers again flex their spending muscle and shrug off any concerns there may be about China's slowing economy,' Andria Cheng, an eMarketer analyst told Bloomberg. 'Many foreign brands, with and without local China presence, will use this shopping event to further raise their brand profile with Chinese consumers.'
Established by Alibaba in 2009 as a counter to Valentine’s Day, the Chinese shopping day sees single consumers purchased goods for themselves, and has since expanded across other online retailers, including competitor JD.com.
This year, Alibaba ran a ‘Countdown Celebration Gala’ event, drawing in celebrities from the US and UK including Scarlett Johansson, David Beckham, and Kobe Bryant to promote the shopping event.
'Consumer behaviour is changing,' Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said during the gala. 'Shopping has become entertainment.'
The top selling brands on Alibaba during the first hour of Singles' Day include mobile phones from Apple, Onor and Meizu, sports equipments from Nike, Adidas and New Balance, and shows form Camel, Skechers and UGG.
Premium fresh produce is also expected to see spikes in sales, with Washington apples, Australian mangoes and Spanish peaches promoted on Alibaba's Tmall ahead of the event.
