Singles’ Day is usually an iconic event for Alibaba. Starting from 2009, the company has marked this day as an occasion to be celebrated, buoyed by increasing sales and in keeping with tradition, this year has also been a chartbuster with sales crossing the roof. As per the latest reports, the company’s sales on the single 24-hour extravaganza hit a massive $38.4 Bn!

To give you some perspective, this is more than what Amazon brought in from it’s online store sales in the whole of last quarter. Alibaba generated that much revenue in a single day. 

In terms of year-over-year sales growth, this marks an increase of 26 percent for the Chinese eCommerce giant. While this growth would be cause for celebration almost everywhere else, this is actually slightly worrying for Alibaba, as this marks a decline in the rate of growth for Singles’ Day sales. Among other things, a global slowdown in economy which is being felt in China as well, is one of the key factors causing this slump.

Singles’ Day is a day of huge importance for Alibaba. We have already covered the numbers. $38 Bn is some serious revenue and the fact that it all comes in a single day is just another testament to the monumental strategic coup Alibaba pulled in converting the informal Singles’ Day into a shopping extravaganza for the whole of China.

Competitors both in China and abroad have been quick to catch on. For example, China’s JD.com Inc and Pinduoduo Inc, South Korea’s 11thStreet and Singapore’s Qoo10 are other eCommerce majors that offer special deals on Singles’ Day.

This year’s event was kicked off by a special performance by American music star Taylor Swift, which was followed by live advertising for major Brands participating in the event. These brands made a killing as well with 84 brands including Apple Inc generating over 100 Mn Yuan in revenue within the span of an hour.