For the first time, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has not released Singles Day sales figures, amid an economic slowdown that is affecting demand.
Launched in 2009, Singles Day is the biggest shopping festival in the world, outselling similar dates like Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States.
In 2021, Alibaba sold 540.3 billion yuan ($76.1 billion). This year, many analysts were looking forward to seeing whether the company and other retailers could jointly achieve record sales of one trillion yuan.
In a statement released on Saturday (12), however, Alibaba said only that this year’s results were “in line with last year’s results. […]despite macroeconomic challenges and the impact of Covid-19”, without giving details.
The note also states that around 290,000 brands participated in the 2022 edition, with different levels of discounts.
On Friday, research firm Syntum said platforms like Alibaba and JD.com had combined sales of 262 billion yuan between 8 pm on Thursday and 2 pm (3 am GMT) on Friday. .
The date, which began as a binge-fueled party hosted by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, has faded in recent years amid Beijing’s controls over trading platforms and diminishing coverage by state media.
Consumers have also tightened their belts as the Chinese government’s “zero Covid” strategy has spurred pay cuts and disrupted supply chains.
The name of the date is a celebration of singleness inspired by the four numbers “1”, 11/11, for being held on November 11th.
Alibaba is expected to present its earnings report to its shareholders next week.
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