Singles Day, occurring every year on the 11th day of the 11th month, is a Chinese celebration for the “lonely” that has been around for just over a decade. It offers a chance for shoppers not in relationships to buy presents for themselves.
Here are some statistics from this year’s event:
— $14.3 billion: Total value of this year’s merchandise sales recorded by Alibaba, Amazon.com’s counterpart in China, up more than 50 per cent from last year’s total in U.S. dollars.
— 8 minutes: How long it took the total merchandise sold through Alibaba’s electric payment service, Alipay, to exceed $1 billion.
— 94 million: Number of mobile buyers who purchased merchandise.
— $9.8 billion: Amount purchased by mobile shoppers, which exceeds the total of $9.3 billion for all purchases last year.
Source: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
