BEIJING: E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said yesterday that Chinese and international consumers spent more than US$14 billion in the world’s biggest online shopping day, as it sought to soothe worries over China’s slowing economy.
The Nov. 11 “Singles Day” has evolved into the globe’s biggest online shopping festival since Alibaba began using the date in 2009 to promote sales through its platforms.
The US$14.3 billion worth of merchandise volume this year smashed through last year’s tally of US$9.3 billion, according to figures from Alibaba.
“This day demonstrates the power of domestic China consumption and the Chinese consumer’s strong demand for international products,” Alibaba chief executive officer Daniel Zhang said in a statement.
The total was more than double the US$6.6 billion recorded last year in online buying during the peak US retail period, the five days from the Thanksgiving holiday to the following Monday, according to Internet analytics firm comScore.
Alibaba’s online payment unit, Alipay, processed 710 million transactions during the shopping festival, the statement said, peaking at almost 86,000 per second.
The number of buyers using mobile devices — a key priority for Alibaba — reached 95 million through Taobao.com and Tmall.com, it said, without giving a figure for total buyers.
Alibaba’s New York-listed stock has been hammered by worries over the Chinese economy, serving as a proxy for slowing growth.
It closed down 1.94 percent at US$79.85 on Wednesday despite the shopping festival.
