Singles’ Day sets new record

The Singles’ Day shopping bonanza set a new record yesterday, with sales on Alibaba’s platforms reaching $38.4bn.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said that sales through its payment platform were up 26% compared with last year as the day cemented its place as the world’s biggest shopping event.

Alibaba said that its logistics arm, Cainiao Network, processed 1.3bn delivery orders and the top five countries selling to China through its cross-border platforms were: Japan, US, South Korea, Australia and Germany.

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“Today we showed the world what the future of consumption looks like for brands and consumers,” said Fan Jiang, president of e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall. “We are 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.”

Meanwhile, JD.com reported sales of RMB204.4bn, up 27.9% on a year ago.

“Key highlights were performance in lower-tier cities (defined as 3-6 tier cities), continued focus from Chinese consumers on quality products and deeper omnichannel integration across the business,” the e-commerce firm said.