Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales top $38.4 billion

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Alibaba Group on Tuesday announced its platforms sold goods worth $38.4 billion on China’s Singles’ Day, Nov. 11, an increase of 26% compared to 2018.

“Today, we showed the world what the future of consumption looks like for brands and consumers,” Fan Jiang, president of Taobao and Tmall -- an online retail website operated by Alibaba Group -- said in a statement.

He added Alibaba Group is “meeting the growing demand of Chinese consumers and helping them upgrade their lifestyles, while introducing new users to our digital economy from across China and around the world.”

"A total of 299 brands surpassed $14.3 million and 15 of those brands surpassed $143 million […] top brands included: Apple, Bose, Estée Lauder, Gap, H&M, L’Oréal, Levi’s, MUJI, Nestlé, Nike, Philips, The North Face, Under Armour, Uniqlo," the statement said.

“The 11.11 shopping festival began in 2009 with participation from just 27 merchants as an event for merchants and consumers to raise awareness about the value of online shopping,” it said.

More than 200,000 brands participated in this year’s event and 1 million new products were launched. Alibaba's logistics affiliate Cainiao Network processed 1.3 billion delivery orders, the statement added.