11/11/2014
By Jennifer Coombs

E-commerce giant, Alibaba (BABA) ran with an idea a few years earlier to make China’s Singles’ Day the largest day for commerce anywhere in the world.  Alibaba coined that Singles’ Day would be celebrated on November 11^th (11/11) as the Chinese response to Valentine's Day, and made it into an online shopping festival in 2009. The company copyrighted the "Double 11" term three years later after recognizing its commercial potential. The date is chosen for the connection between singles and the number '1', and it’s the day where young singles organize parties and Karaoke to meet new friends or try their fortunes (one poor guy tried proposing to his girlfriend with 99 iPhone 6s and she said ‘no’).

As Alibaba’s executive vice chairman told reporters, “You're seeing the unleashing of the consumption power of the Chinese consumer.” Boy, he wasn’t kidding. Today alone, Alibaba reported more than $9.0 billion in online sales – this year, total holiday is the US expected to reach $619 billion, but that’s over the course of November, December and part of January.

Just to give you an idea of how huge this holiday is in terms of retail sales, below is a chart of Alibaba’s Single’s Day sales for today and the last three years relative to the three biggest shopping days in the US: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Clearly, there is no comparison – the volume of sales in Alibaba is mind-blowing. One can only imagine what the holiday will be like on a global scale.

Jennifer Coombs
Wall Street Strategies

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