11-11 shopping festival shows China's economic power

Local and global brands shine as 11-11 breaks sales records, spurs consumption

Despite an unusually lukewarm start and low-key character, this year's "Double-11"－the 11-11 shopping carnival－still proved outstanding as it showcased China's immense consumption potential and the economy's resilience.

What's more, this year's edition confirmed the festival has evolved into the world's biggest shopping event from its humble beginnings in 2009, when it was conceptualized by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd as an occasion for singles to splurge (hence the Nov 11 date containing all four single numerals－"Singles Day").

The festival also got longer, spread over 11 days in offline and online formats, and rode latest technologies like livestreaming and online brand debuts to record sales (889.4 billion yuan or $139.2 billion from Alibaba and JD alone, up 15.6 percent year-on-year). Over the years, sales records have become part and parcel of 11-11, and this year proved to be no different, although sales growth of major e-commerce platforms slowed, industry insiders said.

That was somewhat offset by a refreshing development this year: e-commerce platforms utilized 11-11 to underline inclusive growth, eco-friendliness and the need to empower small and medium-sized brands.

With its customary steep discounts and shopping coupons, Singles Day reinforced an incontrovertible fact: China is the world's preeminent go-to market for products, brands, service providers, technologies, manufacturers and traders.

A vibrant market that packs huge consumption punch also means a fertile ground for economic growth, marked by rising per capita disposable incomes of consumers who are well served by convenient and efficient supply chain components like e-commerce channels.

All this ensured that presales for this year's Singles Day shopping carnival kicked off at 8 pm on Oct 20, four hours earlier than the previous years, to better cater to the growing demand from consumers.

On the first day of the presales, Li Jiaqi, a top livestreaming host also known as "king of lipstick", generated 250 million views and a staggering 10.6 billion yuan ($1.66 billion) in transactions in his 12-hour livestreaming marathon on Alibaba's Taobao Live.

Viya, another top-tier livestreamer, sold about 8.3 billion yuan worth of goods on the same day, in a live sale that lasted－wait for it－14 hours.

According to a report from global consulting firm AlixPartners, shopping via livestreaming continued to gain in popularity during this year's shopping spree. Singles Day continues to be the pivotal event that retailers around the world wait for to capitalize on, with the prerequisite that they must harness live-streaming to get consumers' attention and set the stage for new products.

The report said that most consumers use livestreaming for the specific goal of researching a product prior to buying. However, the most popular content involves personalized discount offers promoted in corresponding social groups or free gifts and other exclusive offers during livestreaming.

In the first hour after the clock struck midnight on Nov 1 when official 11-11 sales began, the turnover of more than 2,600 brands exceeded that of the entire day last year, said Tmall, which is the business-to-customer e-marketplace operated by Alibaba.

Sales of Apple's iPhones surpassed that of the entire day last year in the first four minutes on Nov 1. Domestic brands, including sportswear company Erke and electric car startup Xpeng, witnessed high demand during this period, Tmall said.

E-commerce giant JD said it sold more than 190 million products in the first four hours of its promotion gala, which started at 8 pm on Oct 31.