Singles Day Shatters Sales Record But Alibaba Stock Down
Summary
China e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA) on Monday said it set a sales record for its annual 24-hour shopping festival called Singles Day, with more than $38 billion in gross merchandise volume midway through the event. Alibabas sales zoomed past its total volume for last year of $31 billion, for an event the company calls its 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. The event began at midnight local time, with Alibaba offering big discounts across its e-commerce sites such as Tmall and Taobao. In the hours leading up to Singles Day, Alibabas video streaming platform Youku hosted a countdown gala, which included performances from Taylor Swift and other international and domestic celebrities, in Shanghai. While Alibaba is the name associated with Singles Day, its e-commerce competitors, including JD.com (JD), Pinduoduo (PDD) and Vipshop (VIPS), also partake by promoting big discounts.