Alibaba and JD Smashes Singles Day Record with $139B of Sales

Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com have set new sales records across their platforms on Singles Day.

The largest shopping event in the world allowed them to generate $139 billion of sales and focus on ‘social responsibility.’

Shares of JD were up about 4.6% in afternoon trade in Hong Kong on Friday while Alibaba was down about 1.8%.

While Singles Day, also called Double 11, used to just be a 24-hour flash sale type of affair, it is now a multi-day shopping event that ended at Midnight on November 11th.

JD began sales in late October while Alibaba started at the beginning of November. This extended period has helped the companies continue to grow sales.

JD said transaction volume on its platform totaled 349.1 billion yuan ($54.6 billion) during the Singles Day period. This was a 28% increase from the 271.5 billion yuan recorded last year.

GMV and transaction volume do not mean direct revenue for JD and Alibaba nor do they account for returned items. The figures relate to the volume of transactions across both their platforms and give an indication of China’s appetite for shopping.

Both JD and Alibaba promoted social and environmental responsibility during the event, aligning themselves with the priorities of Beijing.

“This 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, we delivered steady and quality growth that is a reflection of the dynamic Chinese consumption economy,” Yang Guang, vice president at Alibaba, stated.

“We also leveraged the power of 11.11 as a platform to fulfill our social responsibility. This year’s festival was a meaningful milestone as part of our commitment towards building a sustainable future.”

JD meanwhile said it reduced carbon emissions by 26,000 tons during this Singles Day period compared with last year.

Both companies also said they saw growth in smaller Chinese cities, a key focus for the e-commerce firms as they look to grow their user bases.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.