Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is on track to smash its Singles’ Day sales record after notching almost $12 billion in sales around the half-way mark of its Singles’ Day shopathon, according to a Bloomberg report.
The Chinese e-commerce giant said it racked up more than $5 billion in transactions in the first hour of its annual ‘Singles’ Day’ sales blitz on Friday – a third more than in the first hour of last year’s spree.
The spending gives a boost to the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to nurture consumer-based economic growth and reduce reliance on trade and investment, as per the Associated Press.
As per Bloomberg: Pioneered by Alibaba in 2009 and since replicated by rivals including JD.com, Singles’ Day has become somewhat of a barometer of Chinese consumer sentiment. Executives have set the bar high, confidently predicting another record-breaking endeavor at a time when the economy’s growing at its slowest pace in a quarter-century and a weakening yuan may curb enthusiasm for foreign wares.
E-commerce sales in China rose 26.1 percent in the first nine months of the year. The firm co-founded by billionaire entrepreneur Jack Ma beat analyst estimates for July-September on the back of strong core e-commerce sales as well as growth in media and entertainment.
The spending gives a boost to the ruling Communist Party's efforts to nurture consumer-based economic growth and reduce reliance on trade and investment
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