Skip to main content

Alibaba to kick off China's first post-pandemic 'Singles Day' early

Alibaba to kick off China's first post-pandemic 'Singles Day' early
China's Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will kick off its mega-shopping extravaganza "Singles Day" early this year, a move that will likely see a big jump in its sales as the easing of the country's COVID-19 pandemic drives an economic rebound.

The tech giant will offer two check out periods - a new one from Nov. 1-3 and its traditional 24-hour shopping window on Nov. 11. It says it will introduce more than 2 million new products, double the amount last year.


This year's blitz is being watched as a barometer for how strong consumer appetite is rebounding in China, amid signs that a recovery in household spending has started broadening.

Other tech players, like Douyin, the Chinese version of ByteDance's TikTok, JD.com and Pinduoduo are rolling out their own campaigns, some larger than others.

Alibaba turned China’s informal Singles’ Day into a one-day shopping event in 2009 and has made it the world's biggest online sales fest, dwarfing Cyber Monday in the United States. Last year, it recorded $38.4 billion in sales on the day.
"The longer 11-11 lasts, the more opportunity they have to make money," said Sam Coopersmith, partner at Full Jet, a Shanghai-based e-commerce consultancy.

But Lu Zhenwang, an independent e-commerce expert and chief executive officer of Shanghai-based Wanqing Consultancy, says he expects Alibaba's gross merchandise value (GMV) growth to be modest, at around 10-20% compared to last year, noting many consumers' incomes were hurt by the pandemic.

Alibaba Chief Marketing officer Chris Tung told reporters on Thursday he expects the pandemic to drive purchases of luxury goods in particular, as global travel bans prevent Chinese consumers from shopping overseas.

The company's Cainiao logistics division is expecting package shipments to increase 30% from last year, when the company sent out 1.3 billion on Nov. 11 and the week after, said the unit's senior director James Zhao.

In the eastern city of Wuxi, one of Cainiao's warehouses has added between 200 and 300 robots, along with more dormitories and dining rooms to accommodate extra staff, said Tu Ping, the facility's general manager.

JD.com, Alibaba's chief rival, will begin its 11-day festival on Nov. 1, which it has done for the past few years. The company said it will offer a total of 10 billion yuan ($1.49 billion) in discounts to consumers this year

Douyin will hold its own Singles Day activities for the first time this year as it tries to build up its e-commerce offering. Last year the popular short video app partnered with Alibaba to power its livestreaming services, but plans to direct its users to its own internal e-commerce stores this year.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N-Power: FG extends Batch C enrolment Aug 8

FG extends Batch C N-Power enrollment to August 8 Add caption The Federal Government says the enrolment for Batch C scheme of the N-Power Programme which started on June 26 will now close on August 8. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, who disclosed this via  Twitter on Sunday night, said over 5 million applications have been received for the scheme. The Federal Government plans to enrol 400,000 applicants in the Batch C scheme. Batches A and B of the programme who are about to exit the programme held a rally at the National Assembly Complex last week, requesting FG to employ them as well as pay them a grant of N600,000 each. Providing an update on the development, the minister said on Sunday, “I received the news of a protest at the National Assembly by N-Power Batch A and B beneficiaries who presented a list of demands which we are reviewing and will address as practically possible. “Let me reiterate that th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local investors take charge as foreign investors remain cautious amid FX scarcity

Local investors take charge as foreign investors remain cautious amid FX scarcity Renewed positive sentiments in the global space dominated markets in the month of May as investors’ optimism for a speedy economic recovery continues to support appetite for risky assets. This is also coming on the heels of ease in lockdown and gradual reopening of economic activities. In Nigeria, domestic investors took the driving seat at the nation’s equities market in the month of May as they took positions in cheap and dividend-paying bellwether stocks. On the other hand, foreign investors who are unable to move their funds from the country due to FX scarcity rolled their money back into the equities market. In the month of May, total value of transactions executed by domestic Investors out performed transactions executed by Foreign Investors by 40percent. According to data released by the Nigeria Stock Exchange, total transactions executed between May and April revealed that total domest...
Post a Comment
Read more

NAIRA WEAKENS TO LOWEST IN THREE YEARS

NAIRA WEAKENS TO LOWEST IN THREE YEARS The Naira yesterday weakened to the lowest in over three years in the parallel market due to increased demand for dollars amid foreign-currency shortages. The local currency depreciated to N495 to a dollar yesterday, lowest since February 23, 2017, widening the gap with the official rate of N379.5 to over 30 per cent. The currency traded in the interbank market at 389.74 as of 4:54p.m. in Lagos. Agency reports quoted traders as alleging a groundswell of diversion of dollars, a development which heightened scarcity of the green back in the parallel market this week. There is a diversion of inflows away from official channels to the parallel market due to the gap in rates, Murega Mungai, trading desk manager for Aza Finance said in a note Thursday. The market spread has created arbitrage opportunities for recipients of remittances such as exporters and private individuals. Pent up demand in the foreign exchange market is not unprecedente...
Post a Comment
Read more