It took only 63 minutes and 59 seconds for Alibaba's sales for its annual Singles’ Day shopping blitz to hit 100 billion yuan ($14.3 billion). The first billion yuan was spent in the first 68 seconds.
The Reuters news agency points out that $1 billion worth of goods sold in 1 minute and 8 seconds.
路透社指出每1分零8秒就有10亿美元的商品被卖掉。
BBC报道称,有分析师看了第一个小时的数据就知道,今年突破去年的成绩不在话下。
"Based upon that first hour... I would be really surprised to not see it come in above $32bn," said Daniel Newman, technology analyst at Futurum Research.
China's one-day festival of consumption is likely to eclipse Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday — combined, according to Adobe Analytics. The retail data tracking service estimates that the long US holiday shopping weekend this year will generate total retail sales of $29 billion — that would be less than the $30 billion produced in 2018 by China's Singles Day.
A recent survey from research firm Oliver Wyman found that buyers are expecting to spend nearly 10% more on Singles Day this year compared to 2018. That could be a sign of weakening growth, though. Last year, Alibaba reported a 27% uptick in Singles Day revenue.
American companies are also getting in on the act. Nearly a quarter of US retailers plan to run promotions for Singles Day, according to Adobe, which surveyed more than 400 US retailers with annual sales in excess of $500,000.
During Singles Day pre-sales, which kicked off three weeks ago, Estée Lauder (EL) raked in a record 1 billion yuan ($143 million) in pre-orders, Alibaba said on Sunday.
为了方便美国小伙伴参与“双十一”剁手活动,外媒还贴心给出了打折指南。
比如商业内幕网(Business Insider)就列出了22个最佳折扣:
美国科技资讯网(CNET)也搜集了包括耐克、茱莉蔻、伊丽莎白雅顿在内的各大品牌打折信息。
除美国零售商盯上“双十一”大促外,东南亚市场也非常热闹。
据《南华早报》(South China Morning Post)报道,阿里控股的东南亚电商网站来赞达也参与到了今年的活动中,覆盖新加坡、马来西亚、泰国等6大市场。
Lazada will take part for the second consecutive year across its six markets which include Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
阿里巴巴称,全球超过20万品牌、100万件新商品参与打折狂欢。
Over 200,000 domestic and international brands are expected to take part in this year's spree, with over 1 million new products to be put on sale, Alibaba said.
spree:狂欢
亚马逊偷师“猫晚”
剁手娱乐两不误
每年“双十一”剁手前,被网友戏称为“猫晚”的“天猫双11狂欢夜”都会吸引大批观众围观。
《南华早报》就指出,“双十一”早已经不是单纯的购物节了。
Singles' Day has also evolved from a day of massive sales to one that merges both consumption and entertainment.
“光棍节”也已经从单纯的大型销售日变成了消费娱乐为一体的活动。
今年猫晚集齐了泰勒·斯威夫特、易烊千玺、李宇春、腾格尔、郎朗吉娜夫妇等明星,阵容可谓相当豪华。
《南华早报》写道,美国亚马逊就学会了“猫晚”这招,办起了会员日演唱会。
Since 2018, Amazon has taken a leaf out of Alibaba's playbook, throwing Prime Day concerts as part of the event line-up showcasing its services.
"These (Chinese) e-commerce players have learned more about consumer demand for new and improved shopping experiences… such as excitement, gamification and entertainment (beyond) fulfilment of transaction needs," said Benson Ng, EY's Greater China digital advisory leader.
The company is facing stiff competition this year as smaller platforms including JD.com and Pinduoduo – the aggressively expanding upstart that's now encroaching on the market leaders' turf.
Alibaba, stung by criticism it harmed the environment by shipping an estimated 1 billion packages in a single day — has enjoined its logistics arm Cainiao to set up recycling centers at 75,000 locations. It says it will also work with courier companies to pick up used boxes and wrapping.