Alibaba Singles’ Day Results Blow Past Shopping Record

Singles’ Day used to be about young Chinese singles celebrating an anti-Valentine’s Day, but since 2009, it has become big business for Alibaba, particularly this year. That’s because the Chinese eCommerce giant said late last week it blew past its Singles’ Day shopping record, reporting a more than 32 percent increase.

According to a report, retailers who sell their products on Alibaba had $17.8 billion in gross merchandise volume during Singles’ Day. That compares to last year when gross merchandise volume was $14.3 billion.

“Back in 2013, $5.14 billion was our one-day GMV. Now, we can achieve it in one hour,” Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang told the company’s live blog, according to the report. He noted that, during the first hour of Singles’ Day, orders came at a rapid rate of 175,000 per second. The report noted that expectations for GMV during Singles’ Day were $20 billion, which is much higher than the estimate for $2.74 billion generated during the U.S.’s Black Friday and the $3.07 billion generated during Cyber Monday.

According to Alibaba, during this year’s Singles’ Day, Apple, Nike and Siemen products were in demand and were the top sellers Chinese consumers were purchasing from. Local Chinese brands in demand included Haier and Midea, the appliance makers, and Meizu, the makers of handsets.

Singles’ Day is, at this point, the single highest spending day on the eCommerce calendar. As it turns out, there is a thrill to celebrating an anti-Valentine’s Day and buying gifts for oneself, as opposed to that special someone (or Christmas, when one buys things for that special someone and then everyone else they know). Singles’ Day is not itself Alibaba’s invention. It was instead a trend embraced by young, single Chinese consumers during the mid-90s.

Alibaba, however, saw an opportunity in the making and, in 2009, launched Singles’ Day as an eCommerce holiday and opened up its platform for discounts and displaying wares. China’s big shopping season usually falls in step with Lunar New Year, and so, early November has previously been a quiet shopping time period.