Alibaba, JD.com withhold Singles’ Day sales tally for second year, but strike positive tone amid economic headwinds in China
- Two of China’s largest e-commerce platforms have reported growth in sales and order volume, but did not disclose exact sales numbers
- Gross merchandise value at the Taobao and Tmall group rose year on year, while JD.com calls this year’s festival a ‘record-breaking’ event
Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com said they achieved sales growth during this year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival, but stopped short of disclosing exact revenue numbers for the second straight year, as they grapple with a stop-start economic recovery in China and a brutal price war.
Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall Group said on Sunday its gross merchandise value (GMV) – a measure of the total value of goods sold – as well as the number of orders and participating merchants, all recorded year-on-year growth during this shopping season, which started with a presale period on its platforms on October 24 and concluded on November 11.
As of Saturday midnight, 402 brands each surpassed 100 million yuan (US$13.7 million) in GMV, while 38,000 brands achieved over 100 per cent year-on-year GMV growth, according to Taobao and Tmall Group.
“Taobao and Tmall’s solid performance reflects the success of our user-first strategy, which is focused on competitive pricing, diverse content offerings and AI-driven technologies that further optimised consumer and merchant experiences during the campaign,” said Trudy Dai Shan, CEO of Taobao and Tmall Group.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Rival JD.com, which kicked off its Double 11 campaign on October 23, said on Sunday that transaction volume, order volume and user engagement reached all-time highs, calling this year’s shopping festival another “record-breaking” event.
