Four 'single' ones: happy signal for online retailers
| Background |
Singles' Day on Nov. 11, or 11-11, chosen for its four "single" ones, first appeared on campuses. Young single people celebrate the holiday by eating together, sending gifts or going shopping.
Five years ago the internet retailer Alibaba began promoting it as a 24 hour online shopping festival, and it has now turned to be the country’s busiest day for online retailers, millions of shopping lovers and thousands of couriers.
| Latest News |
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Tmall Hits 6.7b Yuan on 1st Hour of Double 11China's e-commerce giant, Tmall, saw 25 million orders totaling about 6.7 billion yuan, or $1.1 billion, on the first hour of November 11, or Double 11, a major online shopping day in China that coincides with Singles' day. China's online retailers see 'Singles' Day' shopping spreeBy 6 am, China's biggest online shopping site, Taobao.com, which operates Tmall.com, had raked in revenues of 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) from just 6 hours of sales. |
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| More news: Alibaba sees big Singles’ Day E-commerce Platforms Competing for Double 11 Day Chinese well-prepared for online shopping carnival |
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| Alibaba's day |
The online sales revenue of Alibaba Group's two e-commerce platforms is expected to surpass 30 billion yuan ($4.93 billion) on this year's Singles' Day (November 11), which falls on Monday, according to Chairman Jack Ma Yun's estimation.
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Reactions of logistics |
| SF Express , a logistics service provider, has lowered the price of some of its services by 40 percent since Friday, according to media reports. | |
| Shentong Express, “We have hired 30 percent more staff for double eleven, and we have workers’ bonuses ready.” “We are training new staff to prepare for double eleven. Our shipping volume will be up ten times.” | |
| Yuantong Express, will add two B-737 cargo aircrafts, according to media reports. |
| Commentary |
China's media:
Global Times:
Singles’ Day testifies to the power of e-commerce
Chinese companies struggling to succeed in the cutthroat e-commerce market have had to commit vast resources to the battle. For Singles' Day, they will have been frantically preparing for a long time, monitoring rivals' prices and determining the items that are going to be hot sellers.
Xinhua News Agency:
Singles Day promotions kindle China's spending power
The Chinese leadership is striving to steer the country's economy with a slower, more sustainable growth model based on domestic consumption instead of investment and exports. Online shopping is no doubt a growth point to release spending potential, insiders have noted.
Foreign media:
The Financial Times:
Alibaba rivals redouble efforts on Single’s day
Single’s day underscores Alibaba’s scale. But, as the company gears up for an initial public offering that would give it a market capitalisation of about $65bn, it also highlights the increasing competition and challenges it faces.
Further competition is forecast, as e-commerce groups spend money to gain a bigger presence. Paul McKenzie, analyst with CLSA, notes that only Tmall and two of its competitors are profitable, suggesting that b2c companies – and the often deep-pocketed investors backing them – consider grabbing users and market share to be more important at this stage than generating profits.
CNBC:
Singles Day supercharges China's new middle class consumers
The growth in online sales growth is driven by an expanding Chinese middle class buying apparel, accessories and electronics.
"The notion of having discretionary money to spend is a new phenomenon in China," said Homi Kharas, senior fellow at the Brooking Institute. "These are people who want to differentiate themselves and are brand-conscious. The middle class is prepared to pay more for quality than the lower classes," he added.
Web editor: wangnan1@globaltimes.com.cn