Chinese customers already scouting for deals as start of singles’ day edges closer
Shanghai — Singles’ day, once a celebration for China’s lonely hearts and now the world’s biggest shopping spree, opens at midnight on Friday, with millions of shoppers eager to snap up cut-price deals. At a star-studded event in Shanghai, e-commerce giant Alibaba will count down the clock for the annual November 11 event — a 24-hour extravaganza that outsells the US Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined, and acts as a barometer for China’s consumer spending. Alibaba alone had $17.7bn of goods sold on its platform at 2016’s singles’ day. Around China, consumers have already started scouting for deals and filling up online shopping carts, while delivery men — and robots — are gearing up for the estimated 1.5-billion parcels expected over the next six days. "This is a big event for China, for the Chinese economy," co-founder and Alibaba vice-chairperson Joseph Tsai said ahead of the sales bonanza. "On singles’ day, shopping is a sport, it’s entertainment. There are today over 3...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.