Alibaba, a Chinese business conglomerate that specialises in retail and e-commerce, has set a new Singles’ Day record for its tenth edition shopping festival, with customers all over the world shopping in stores and online on November 11.
This year’s gross merchandise volume resulted in a huge US$30.8 billion, although the company experienced its lowest ever annual growth rate for the festival. The final total of 2018 represented a 27 per cent increase from last year and a drop from 36 per cent in 2017.
The cooldown comes following Alibaba’s weakest revenue growth since seven quarters ago and a cut in annual revenue forecast. The gross merchandise total, however, is still twice the size of 2017’s Black Monday and Cyber Monday combined.
Although customers are expected to spend less money as an economic downturn hits China, the company is unconcerned, with Alibaba executive chairman, Joe Tsai saying shoppers “are looking for new ways to upgrade their lifestyle and make their lives better,” which he believes “will really offset a lot of the short-term cyclical effects.”
As Alibaba reaches its 19th year, it’s also turning to new methods to sell, such as more international consumers, with this year alone boasting merchants from over 200 countries. Alibaba CEO, Daniel Zhang also revealed that it’s set to digitise the whole consumer retail market, with voice being an important entry point in the transition.
