China: Record sales in ‘Singles’ Day’ opponent battle – lower growth in Alibaba

Once again this year, Chinese shoppers got caught up in the online consumer frenzy on Singles’ Day. But big dog Ali Baba no longer grows as vigorously at the height of the year. Technological oppression can be felt.

BEIJING/MUNICH – Despite supply chain headwinds and repression against the Chinese tech company, the world’s biggest opponent battle in China once again set sales records for major online retailers such as Alibaba and JD.com this year. Although companies made a splash in advertising, sales of the eleven-day Consumer Fest on Singles’ Day increased.

Singles’ Day always ends on November 11th. every year. Alibaba kicked off its 2009 annual shopping festival with special offers and huge discounts. The competitors followed suit. Originally, November 11 “Singles’ Day” was considered a kind of anti-Valentine’s Day among students in China, because the date consists of only one day. Because of its great success, the opponent’s battle was finally extended to eleven days.

During the opponent’s battle this year until 11.11. Alibaba’s sales reached 540 billion yuan (73 billion euros), an increase of 8.45 percent over the previous year, the company announced Friday. However, since 2009, Alibaba’s growth has always been in the double-digit range. Meanwhile, second internet sales giant JD.com reported a 28.6 percent increase to 349 billion yuan (47 billion euros) in sales over the previous year. This indicates that consumer confidence is not declining in general.

Alibaba at the epicenter of competition authority

Alibaba has been in the spotlight of regulatory authorities for a year now, who among other things have blocked the IPO of financial subsidiary Ant Financial and fined Alibaba $1 billion for violating competition law. The impetus was the critical speech of Alibaba founder Jack Ma. He had accused the stock exchange regulator of lacking the will to reform. Ma has not appeared in public since then. This year, Alibaba emphasized that it is focused on sustainable growth. The group also kept its Singles’ Day expectations low

This year, according to a report by South China Morning Newspaper Just hours before Singles’ Day began, local authorities in southern Guangdong province warned Alibaba, delivery giant Meituan and online shopping platform Vipshop once again that there was unfair competition and cool-down deals for their online stores. Among other things, Alibaba was notorious for exclusive contracts, which prevented stores from offering their merchandise to competitors such as JD.com. But this is not allowed since 2020.

China: Singles’ Day is the biggest discount campaign in the world

For many online sellers on these platforms, Singles’ Day is the most important stage of the year – similar to Christmas in Germany. Many of their annual sales are generated within eleven days. Warehouses are stocked for months and logistical capabilities are secured so that eventually everything works and there are enough goods in stock. Since 2018, Singles’ Day has held more similar discount festivals in the US such as Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, which are now also available in Europe. (ck/dpa)