Alibaba’s Singles’ Day sales see strong demand for designer toys, pet products

Alibaba Group Holding has highlighted strong demand for emerging product categories such as designer toys and pet products during the Singles’ Day shopping festival, in the latest sign of a recovery in consumer sentiment in the world’s second-largest economy.

The Singles’ Day event, the world’s largest online retail extravaganza, has seen strong growth in sales of designer toys, pet products as well as niche home appliances and furniture, according to Taobao and Tmall Group (TTG), the domestic e-commerce unit of Alibaba. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

Alibaba kicked off its promotions for Singles’ Day on October 14, starting with a presale period when consumers could pay a deposit on goods to guarantee lower prices. The campaign spans almost a month in two phases. As of October 24, Taobao and Tmall said there was “solid momentum” in the initial sales period, with 284 brands surpassing 100 million yuan (US$14 million) each in sales.

Popular merchandise this year include niche products like Jellycat, a British soft toy brand that is gaining popularity among young Chinese. The company recorded higher sales “in the opening minute” of its first checkout period this year - which lasted from October 21 to 24 - than it did in the entire first day last year, according to data from TTG. Pet products, including pet food, also proved to be in high demand, with 658 brands doubling their sales in the first four hours compared to the same period last year.

Overall, online consumer spending has picked up. The three major e-commerce platforms – Tmall and Taobao, JD.com and ByteDance’s Douyin – saw average daily sales of cosmetics and designer toys each soar five-fold between October 14 and October 24, compared with the daily average during the first nine months of the year, according to data from consultancy Meritco Services.

Sales of outdoor gear and pet products grew roughly fourfold during the same period, Meritco said.