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Inside China Tech: Alibaba leads record Singles’ Day sales as tech antitrust clouds gather
- Alibaba delivered on Singles’ Day with US$74.1 billion in gross merchandise volume from its 11-day promotional period
- The company and other major Chinese internet firms saw their shares tumble in Hong Kong after Beijing unveiled a draft antitrust guideline
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Hello, this is Bien Perez from the South China Morning Post’s Technology desk, with a wrap of our leading stories this week.
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This November should have been a double-barrelled celebration for e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, which aimed for another record-breaking Singles’ Day sales campaign coupled with the successful initial public offering of financial technology affiliate Ant Group.
While Chinese regulators last week halted Ant’s listing, setting back what was expected to be the world’s biggest IPO, Alibaba delivered on Singles’ Day with 498.2 billion (US$74.1 billion) in gross merchandise volume (GMV) from its 11-day promotional period. That topped last year’s tally of 268.4 billion yuan during the company’s 24-hour campaign on November 11.
As the world’s largest shopping festival, Singles’ Day – also referred to as 11.11 – is known for its steep discounts on everything from daily necessities to luxury items and even flats.
Alibaba, parent company of the Post, also reported this week revenue of 155.1 billion yuan in its financial second quarter to September, up from 119 billion yuan a year ago, which was ahead of market analysts’ estimates.
03:02
Amid pandemic, Chinese consumers spend US$74.1 billion during Singles’ Day online sales festival
Amid pandemic, Chinese consumers spend US$74.1 billion during Singles’ Day online sales festival
The revenue gain was made on the back of strong growth from Alibaba’s core commerce operations, led by Tmall and Taobao Markeplace, as well its cloud computing business.
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