Giant Chinese online retailer, Alibaba, says consumers in China purchased goods to the value of US$7 billion in the first two hours of this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival held on Friday, exceeding the value of purchases in the entire 24 hours of the 2013 shopping festival.
Alibaba says that in the hours leading up to the official midnight start of November 11, millions of viewers watched the Shopping Festival countdown gala live online and on mobile devices via Youku Tudou, and the Tmall and Taobao apps. The gala was televised live across China through Zhejiang Satellite TV, as well as in Hong Kong and Macau for the first time.
"Chinese consumers purchased more in the first hour of 11.11 this year than the entire 24 hours in 2013, reflecting the incredible evolution of our global shopping festival. This unprecedented level of engagement demonstrates both the consumption power of Chinese consumers and their embrace of online shopping as a lifestyle,” said Daniel Zhang, chief executive officer of Alibaba Group.
“This year, we innovated new ways for consumers watching the live broadcast of our countdown gala. Viewers were able to influence the production of the show in real-time through their mobile phones,” said Chris Tung, chief marketing officer, Alibaba Group.
{loadposition peter}“Consumers in front of their televisions were shaking, tapping, scanning, chatting, browsing and buying with their mobile devices, creating a seamless and truly immersive entertainment experience.”
The annual shopping event kicked off at 12:00 am China time on Friday and Alibaba says early highlights included:
• Within the first 5 minutes, total gross merchandise volume (GMV) settled through Alipay exceeded US$1 billion (RMB 6.8 billion)
• In the first hour, total GMV settled through Alipay was US$5.2 billion (RMB 35.3 billion)
• In the first two hours, total GMV settled through Alipay was US$7.2 billion (RMB 48.6 billion), and mobile GMV settled through Alipay accounted for 84% of total GMV