China’s biggest online shopping day easily dwarfs Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Alibaba’s Singles’ Day shopping bonanza has set another record for online sales.
The annual 24-hour online shopping spree notched 213.5 billion yuan ($30.7 billion) in sales, the Chinese e-commerce giant said Sunday, surpassing last years record of $25.3 billion. Products from Xiaomi Apple and Dyson topped early sales, Bloomberg reported.
Called the 11/11 Global Shopping Festival, otherwise known as Singles’ Day in China because of its collection of ones is perhaps the world’s biggest online shopping extravaganza. Asia’s version of Black Friday was created in 2009 created by Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang to draw buyers to Alibaba’s shopping platform, Tmall.
dwarfing international equivalents like Black Friday and Cyber Monday .
But Singles’ Day easily dwarfs international equivalents like Black Friday and Cyber Monday . traditionally the largest online shopping days in the US, when consumers flock to the internet for deals the day after Thanksgiving. By comparison, last year’s Black Friday saw $5.03 billion in online sales .
More than 180,000 Chinese and international brands helped celebrate the 10th 11/11 shopping spree, which also featured televised entertainment from names such as Cirque du Soleil and Mariah Carey.
The day, chosen for the collection of ones in its name, started out as a kind of “anti-Valentine’s Day” where China’s lonely hearts revel in their singlehood.
CNET’s Zoey Chong contributed to this report.
