Singles Day is singular triumph for Alibaba

Of all the celebrants of China’s annual “Singles Day” Nov. 11 holiday, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. was probably the happiest.



By midnight Nov. 11 China time (which is ahead of all U.S. time zones), Alibaba estimated it had settled about $14.34 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) through its Alipay payment platform on its China and international retail marketplaces.



“This day demonstrates the power of domestic China consumption, and the Chinese consumer’s strong demand for international products,” said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group. “It also showcases how Alibaba uses big data, cloud computing and mobile innovations to create the best shopping experience for buyers and sellers.”



Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma changed things up this year, bringing in more foreign brands, including Nordstrom and other U.S. retailers.







He also added more excitement to the mega-sale, which kicked off with a four-hour variety show that included a performance by U.S. Pop star and “American Idol” finalist Adam Lambert. Even film actor Daniel Craig, the current James Bond, made an appearance.



Mobile commerce was also strong, reflecting that mobile commerce is much more developed in Asia than in the U.S. About 69% of total GMV came from mobile purchases. By 2:05 p.m. China time on Nov. 11, Alibaba estimated it had already settled about $10 billion of gross merchandise volume on what it now calls the 2015 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.



Cainiao Logistics, the logistics affiliate of Alibaba Group, received 467 million delivery orders. In total, Alipay processed 710 million payment transactions, with a peak rate of 140,000 transactions per second. Thirty-three percent of buyers were purchasing international products, demonstrating the increasing importance of Singles Day to retailers outside China.



During the entire day of Nov. 11, 2014, total Singles Day GMV settled through Alipay was about $9.3 billion, with 278 million delivery orders.