{"id":213597,"date":"2021-11-16T08:50:34","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T00:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/?p=213597"},"modified":"2021-11-15T21:16:39","modified_gmt":"2021-11-15T13:16:39","slug":"heres-how-this-years-singles-day-sales-played-out-for-alibaba-jd-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/2021\/11\/heres-how-this-years-singles-day-sales-played-out-for-alibaba-jd-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Here&#8217;s how this year&#8217;s Singles Day sales played out for Alibaba, JD.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><b>Crackdown woes and higher inflation have led to this year\u2019s sales period being more low-key.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>Online sales posted by Alibaba and JD.com were rather somber, reflecting the sluggish Singles Day in China.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Annually, November 11, known as \u201cSingles Day,\u201d never fails to be the world\u2019s biggest 24-hour shopping event. The statistics have always been staggering, both for the sheer volume of sales transacted and its year-on-year growth. This year&#8217;s sale <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/2021\/10\/heres-how-the-pre-sale-of-chinas-2021-singles-day-sale-went\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wasn\u2019t different<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, except for the fact that Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd recorded its first single-digit growth in sales since 2009.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales had grown by double digits every year since Alibaba founded the festival in 2009 and that eventually made Singles Day <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/2021\/11\/alibaba-risks-dominance-in-china-as-shoppers-evolve\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the world&#8217;s biggest online sales festival<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. But for this year, amidst a rather slow local economic expansion and the Chinese government\u2019s relentless crackdown on tech giants, Alibaba\u2019s sales grew only 8.5%, its slowest rate ever.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall, the total gross merchandise value (GMV) for Alibaba\u2019s Singles\u2019 Day sale this year grew by 8.5% to a record 540.3 billion yuan (US$84.5 billion) during the 11-day campaign. For context, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/2021\/11\/alibaba-risks-dominance-in-china-as-shoppers-evolve\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the e-commerce giant<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> recorded an 85.6% sales growth in 2020. Experts reckon that the contributing factors would be the slowed consumption in China and Alibaba\u2019s relatively muted version of a sales festival this time around.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As it is, China just recorded its slowest economic expansion pace in decades, to 4.9% in the third quarter, while retail sales increased at a mere 4.4% in September from a year ago, according to China\u2019s statistics bureau.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><div class=\"see-also right\"><div class=\"row\" data-equalizer><a href=https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/2021\/11\/jd-coms-singles-day-boosted-the-use-of-chinas-digital-yuan\/><div class=\"medium-12 small-4 columns\" data-equalizer-watch><img width=\"400\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-400x200.jpg\" class=\"ratio2by1 wp-post-image\" alt=\"JD.Com\u2019s Singles Day boosted the use of China&#039;s Digital Yuan\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-400x200.jpg 400w, https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-800x400.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-150x150.jpg\" class=\"ratiosquare wp-post-image\" alt=\"JD.Com\u2019s Singles Day boosted the use of China&#039;s Digital Yuan\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-167x167.jpg 167w, https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-344x344.jpg 344w, https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-409x409.jpg 409w, https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/cdn.techwireasia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/000_9RB7MB-125x125.jpg 125w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/div><div class=\"medium-12 small-8 columns\" data-equalizer-watch><h4>JD.COM\u2019S SINGLES DAY BOOSTED THE USE OF CHINA&#8217;S DIGITAL YUAN<\/h4><p class=\"byline\">Dashveenjit Kaur | 15 November, 2021<\/p><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To be fair, analysts have long relied on the sales figure to gauge the health of China\u2019s economy as well as the country\u2019s number one e-commerce platform operator. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/chinas-biggest-shopping-event-hit-by-global-supply-chain-strains-11636628420\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (WSJ) attributed the rather sluggish Singles Day sales this year to \u201csupply-chain crunch\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cChina\u2019s factory-gate <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/chinas-factory-inflation-grows-at-record-pace-on-soaring-energy-prices-11636523316?mod=article_inline\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">inflation has been climbing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as energy and other raw materials get more expensive. Power outages have halted or slowed manufacturing in several provinces, while the global semiconductor shortage continues to weigh on electronics production. Some imports are arriving slower than usual amid a global logistics disruption,\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WSJ <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Separately, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CNN <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2021\/11\/10\/business\/china-singles-day-intl-hnk\/index.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">said<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the increased inflation in China threatens to erode profit margins and the purchasing power held by consumers. \u201cThe cost of goods leaving China&#8217;s factories surged by another record rate last month \u2014 China&#8217;s Producer Price Index jumped 13.5% in October from a year ago \u2014 and there are now signs that the higher costs are trickling down. China&#8217;s Consumer Price Index rose 1.5% in October from a year ago, double the rate of the previous month and the fastest pace of increase since September 2020,\u201d the report noted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To top it off, Alibaba also <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/retail-consumer\/splurge-common-prosperity-alibaba-tones-down-singles-day-2021-11-01\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toned down<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> its marketing hype amid ongoing regulatory tightening from Chinese authorities, while its focus shifted towards sustainable growth this year. On the other hand, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/2020\/12\/jd-com-begins-accepting-chinas-digital-yuan\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">its competitor JD.com<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> said, its total transaction volume increased 28.6% to 349.1 billion yuan this year. The growth rate was also lower than last year\u2018s 32.8% but higher than 2019\u2019s 27.9% increase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JD shared that users from so-called lower-tier markets accounted for 77% of all shoppers during the Singles Day period. The company said it had seen \u201crapid growth of consumption\u201d from these markets in home appliances, medicine and home decoration. The same was for Alibaba. When the sales began on November 1 to November 3, Alibaba said spending in lower-tier cities and rural areas increased by nearly 25% from last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Crackdown woes and higher inflation have led to this year\u2019s sales period being more low-key. Online sales posted by Alibaba and JD.com were rather somber, reflecting the sluggish Singles Day in China. Annually, November 11, known as \u201cSingles Day,\u201d never fails to be the world\u2019s biggest 24-hour shopping event. The statistics have always been staggering,<a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/techwireasia.com\/2021\/11\/heres-how-this-years-singles-day-sales-played-out-for-alibaba-jd-com\/\" title=\"ReadHere&#8217;s how this year&#8217;s Singles Day sales played out for Alibaba, JD.com\">&#8230; Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":213598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51,2839],"tags":[290,335,13,312,5102,3386,2431],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Here&#039;s how this year&#039;s Singles Day sales played out for Alibaba, JD.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crackdown woes and higher inflation have led to this year\u2019s sales period being more low-key. 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