E-commerce giants report sales growth for Singles Day
Alibaba Group reported that its Chinese e-commerce platforms Tmall and Taobao recorded "positive" year-on-year growth over this year's Singles Day sales period, which wrapped up at midnight on Saturday.  Meanwhile competitor JD.com said its festival gross merchandising volume hit a "record high" over the sales period.  Originally a 24-hour online shopping event held on November 11 each year in China, the 'Singles Day' festival – a nod to the digits in the date – has expanded into weeks of promotions across the country's major e-commerce platforms and in brick-and-mortar stores.  This year marked the second time Alibaba has not disclosed the actual yuan value of its sales for its landmark festival, which this year celebrated its 15th anniversary. Last year, when sales were hit by Covid curbs across the nation, was the first. The festival is closely watched as a gauge of consumer confidence, and expectations for sales growth this year have been subdued.  E-commerce giant Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce player by market share, had put pressure on merchants to offer rock-bottom prices this Singles Day, announcing at the outset of the festival in late October that it would offer 80 million products at their lowest prices this year for the blockbuster event.  That move was seen as a way to fight back against rivals such as Douyin and PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo which have changed the landscape of Chinese e-commerce in recent years by selling lower-cost and discounted items year-round. (Reuters)