Alibaba's Singles' Day Sales Soar

RAPAPORT... Singles' Day has continued to grow as a major onlineshopping occasion in China, with Alibaba Group reporting record sales through itse-commerce sites. The total value of transactions on the Chinese retailgiant's platforms rose 26% to CNY 268.4 billion ($38.4 billion) on Monday,the company said. More than 200,000 brands participated in the 24-hour shoppingfestival, it added. "Today we showed the world what the future of consumptionlooks like for brands and consumers," said Fan Jiang, president of Taobao,Alibaba's consumer-to-consumer site, and Tmall, its business-to-consumer page."We are meeting the growing demand of Chinese consumers and helping themupgrade their lifestyles, while introducing new users to our digital economyfrom across China and around the world." The annual spending event takes place on November 11, asignificant date - 11.11 - because of its association with singlehood. It beganas a day for celebrating bachelorhood, and later developed into the largestshopping day in the world, mainly thanks to Alibaba's marketing. The festival's closest rival, Cyber Monday, is muchsmaller, with sales totaling around $8 billion last year, according to AdobeAnalytics.Image: Fan Jiang, president of Taobao and Tmall. (Alibaba Group)