Alibaba sells $75 billion in one single day!

It is amazing to see what the Chinese market is able to do. In one single day, one website alone can sell the equivalent of what countries such as Brazil sells during a 12 month period!

China’s annual Singles Day online shopping bonanza regularly hauls in tens of billions of dollars for Alibaba and other e-commerce and retail companies in China. This year, it’s taking on new meaning as a showcase for the country’s success in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alibaba (BABA) said on Thursday that the annual sales frenzy broke records again, raking in 498.2 billion yuan (roughly $75 billion). The total includes an earlier three-day period that was added to boost post-pandemic sales.

Compared to the same timeframe as last year, this year’s haul represents an increase of 26%, the company said.

“China’s economy has seen a strong recovery and Chinese consumers’ purchase behaviors have already returned to pre-pandemic levels, if not higher,” according to Xiaofeng Wang, analyst with market research firm Forrester.

China reported positive economic growth for the second quarter in a row last month, underlining how quickly the world’s second-largest economy has recovered from the pandemic.

For brands and retailers scrambling to recover from months of shuttered shops and consumers hunkered down indoors, the lucrative Chinese shopper is a much-needed bright spot. Many companies “are doubling down” on their Singles Day sales events, according to Wang.

A survey from market research firm Oliver Wyman found that 86% of Chinese consumers are willing to spend the same as or more than what they did during last year’s Singles Day.

Chinese shoppers “continue to spend like crazy,” said Oliver Wyman partner Jacques Penhirin, who led the survey.

The remaining 14% of survey respondents said they will spend less on Singles Day, because the pandemic had brought too much uncertainty for them.

Penhirin predicted the event would be massive for participating brands and retailers, because shoppers are using it as an opportunity to treat themselves.

It’s been a strange year for Chinese consumers. They saved money during an unpredecented lockdown earlier this year, but they aren’t traveling, said Penhirin.

So shoppers are approaching Singles Day with an indulgent mindset. For example, a shopper who usually buys Maybelline makeup, he said, might instead spend a bit more to buy stuff from Yves Saint Laurent on sale.

“Now it’s time to be indulgent,” Penhirin said.

Glitzy stars and blockbuster growth

Singles Day regularly racks up bigger sales than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

The event — also known as Double 11 — is pegged to China’s informal, anti-Valentine’s Day holiday that celebrates people who aren’t in relationships. It takes place on November 11, a date that was chosen because it is written as four ones, or singles.

Alibaba started offering Singles Day discounts in 2009 and has since turned the event into a bonanza of online shopping.