China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba kicked off its annual “Singles’ Day” shopping spree—China’s equivalent of Black Friday—today. This year will mark the first time that Alibaba’s merchants and consumers get a taste of “new retail,” a term founder Jack Ma coined to depict the increasingly blurring boundaries between the online and offline shopping worlds.
Started as a 24-hour online sale, Alibaba’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival—as it is officially called—has evolved into a 24-day festival season to celebrate the country’s orgy of consumption. The Festival smashed its own record by racking up 120.7 billion RMB (approximately $17.8 billion) in gross merchandise volume (GMV) within 24 hours last year, eclipsing the $2.74 billion generated online during the US’s Black Friday sales in the same year.
That number was projected onto a large screen, live-streamed in real time to millions around the country last year. But Alibaba is seeking something else this time: How many customers it’s able to drive away from their computers to physical retail stores. As such the giant is partnering with 52 shopping malls to set up 60 pop-up stores across 12 cities in China during the Festival, a spokesperson says.
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.
Monthly Membership
Yearly Membership
What you get
Full access to all premium content and our full archives
Members'-only newsletters
Preferential access and discounts to all TechNode events
Direct access to the TechNode newsroom
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.