Chinese e-commerce broke sales records on 'Double 11'

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01:25

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba achieved a total transaction volume of 213.5 billion yuan (about 30.7 billion US dollars) in a single day's worth of sales on November 11. The revenue crossed 200 billion yuan for the first time, with a year-on-year increase of 27 percent.

Alibaba's 24-hour "Double 11" shopping spree is China's biggest annual e-commerce event, and this year, sales from other e-commerce giants such as JD.com and Suning.com also shattered previous records.

JD.com reached a transaction volume of 159.8 billion yuan since November 1, the start of their sales period, and Suning.com registered a sales increase of 132 percent year-on-year.

Consumption upgrading‍

02:31

Alibaba's CEO Daniel Zhang said that the "Double 11" shopping festival has become a world event due to the participation of consumers from over 230 countries and regions, and it has become a reflection of China's successful macro-economy.

"Today, hundreds of millions of consumers participated in the 'Double 11' shopping festival, and although they differ in consumption capability, we can see a consumption upgrade across all different levels, because our big data-driven-platform can already offer them a personalized shopping experience,” said Zhang.

Experts say it shows the great potential of the Chinese market, and consumers said they are paying more attention to the quality rather than just price.

Shopping trends

National promotion highlights of JD.com. /VCG Photo

Alibaba began the festival in 2009 and this year marked its tenth anniversary with 213.5 billion yuan, a significant increase from the 50 million yuan from the first year.

This year's remarkable shopping spree evinced three shopping trends: "An obvious trend this year is that for products such as cosmetics, or those related to healthcare, growth is evident, even eruptive," said Jiang Xinjie, Alibaba's spokesperson for the festival.

Suning.com said the popular products were related to imported nutrients, smart homes, western-style kitchen equipment and fitness equipment.

At least 237 brands - including Estee Lauder, SK-II, Xiaomi, Huawei, Haier, Midea, Nike and Adidas - sold over 100 million yuan's worth of goods on "Double 11".

Xiaomi's daily sales of smartphones, Internet of Things (IoT) and general consumer products exceeded 5.25 billion yuan.

Chinese people celebrate the "Double 11" shopping spree online and offline in Hangzhou, east China on November 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

A mall-goer in Shanghai waiting to grab an online voucher for the "Double 11" shopping event. /CGTN Photo

Zhang also pointed out that this year's "Double 11" had an unprecedented level of integration between online and offline retail methods.

In shopping malls across major Chinese cities, shoppers are snatching up online vouchers, which can be redeemed not only on the Internet but also in tens of thousands of brick and mortar shops as well.

"Last year, it was only our online shop that participated in the Double 11, but this year our offline shops did, too. We hope through these interactions customers can get to know our brand better,” said Dong Chi, the new retail director of Marie Dalgar Cosmetics.

Meanwhile, cross-border purchases are becoming popular. A survey from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce shows that for 20 percent of those who purchased imported goods, imported goods were more than 30 percent of their total purchases.

Logistics orders

Delivery men manage with packages in Shandong Province, China on November 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

Alibaba's total logistics network also reached a new record high with over a billion deliveries ordered in one day. It is a huge task for any delivery service, but Alibaba's logistics affiliate Cainiao said it presents a chance to upgrade the country's logistics infrastructure.

"Before the event, we analyzed where the overload points are likely to be and notified our partners so they can better allocate the resources, and we've employed a lot of Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technologies to further improve efficiency," said Chen Liangjun, the spokesperson of Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited.

Suning.com had 200,000 delivery men nationwide riding one million kilometers just for the event.

Since 2016, sales during "Double 11" have outstripped the combined total of US shopping holidays including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, making it the single biggest shopping day in the world.

CGTN Photo

(CGTN's Xu Mengqi contributed to the story.)