Alibaba Singles' Day sales
pass 2015 total, but growth rate slows
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[November 11, 2016]
By Catherine Cadell
SHENZHEN,
China (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Singles' Day sales surged
past last year's 91.2 billion yuan ($13.36 billion) total with nearly
nine hours left on the clock, but growth was markedly slower than in
2015 as shoppers sought even bigger price cuts.
Amid fanfare and celebrity razzmatazz, sales on Alibaba's platforms had
raced to a billion dollars in under five minutes and within the first
sixty minutes had passed $5 billion - a third faster than 2015 as the
e-commerce giant looked to shrug off a domestic economic slowdown and a
U.S. accounting probe.
The 24-hour event held annually on Nov. 11 offers a benchmark for
Alibaba's performance and an insight into China's swing to online
shopping, especially via smartphones. Launched in 2009, Alibaba's
version of the event was designed to encourage consumers without a
partner to treat themselves.
Sales growth was down from last year's 60 percent amid a more saturated
domestic online retail market, a weaker economy and sluggish personal
income growth. A strong U.S. dollar also hit the headline sales figure
in dollar terms.
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The discount shopping day, also known as "Double 11", still shifts more
goods than Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States combined.
Sales on Alibaba platforms, including Tmall and Taobao, are tipped to
exceed $20 billion this year.
"Back in 2013, 35 billion yuan ($5.14 billion) was our one-day GMV
(gross merchandise volume)," said Chief Executive Officer Daniel Zhang
in a live microblog posting on Alibaba's event. "Now we can achieve it
in one hour."
GMV refers to the value of goods sold by vendors through Alibaba's
platforms. Alibaba makes money through advertising and charging vendors
a proportion of their sales.
MOBILE SHOPPING SURGE
After a beefed-up marketing push over the last month - with fashion
shows and virtual reality games - sales officially opened at midnight,
releasing a wave of pre-orders that shoppers had placed ahead of the
event. Sports stars David Beckham and Kobe Bryant attended the
countdown, though headline act Katy Perry pulled out last minute citing
a "family" issue.
At 1519 p.m. (0719 GMT) a live sales tracker at Alibaba's main event in
the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen passed the 2015 yuan total,
ensuring the day will set a new record but, in dollar terms, was still
short of 2015's $14.3 billion.
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![](../images/111116pics/busine51.jpg)
A screen shows the value of goods being transacted at Alibaba
Group's 11.11 Singles' Day global shopping festival in Shenzhen,
China November 11, 2016, which exceeded total value of last year's
91.2 billion yuan ($13.36 billion). REUTERS/Bobby Yip
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Nov/11/images/ads/current/mks_lda_SAVEDATE_2016.png)
The rise of Singles' Day reflects how China's consumers, armed with
smartphones, are racing online to shop - to the detriment of bricks and
mortar stores. So far on Friday, 83 percent of sales were via mobile
devices, up strongly from last year, Alibaba said.
The day itself is a double-edged sword for many: Couriers, packaging
firms and vendors say low prices and steep competition mean profit
margins are slim despite large sales volumes.
Cut-throat competition for customers has also caused concern over false
advertising and massaged statistics. This week China's business
regulator advised mainland online shopping platforms to guard against
suspect sales tactics.
In May this year, Alibaba said the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) was looking into how it reports its Single's Day
figures. Alibaba said at the time it was cooperating with the
authorities, and that the SEC advised it the investigation should not be
seen as an indication the company had violated federal securities laws.
Alibaba declined to comment on the SEC probe on Friday.
Alibaba is not the only retailer to mark Nov. 11 with a massive sales
drive. China's no. 2 e-commerce player JD.com Inc <JD.O> and many others
also offer discount deals on the day.
(Reporting by Cate Cadell and Xihao Jiang; Writing by Adam Jourdan;
Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Christopher Cushing)
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