China’s ‘Double 11’ shopping spree sees ‘record figures’ as consumption recovers
After the annual “Double 11” shopping festival, said to be the world’s largest, wrapped up at mid-night Saturday, China’s State Post Bureau and some Chinese e-commerce giants reported “record numbers,” while others are reporting “positive growth,” underscoring Chinese consumers’ strong spending power.
Recovery
In its 15th year, the “Double 11” shopping festival, which is also known as Singles Day, has become a reliable barometer of consumer sentiment.
While a final tally of sales was not immediately offered and consumer enthusiasm recovery appeared relatively low compared to previous years, various highlights, including the rise of domestic brands, underline shifting trends in China’s consumer market. At any rate, total sales, expected to see double-digit growth, underscores China’s consumption, analysts said.
While many e-commerce platforms stopped reporting gross merchandise value (GMV) for “Double 11” sales since last year, they offered various highlights of sales activities on their platforms on Sunday.
JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce giant, reported new records in various indicators. “JD.com’s 11.11 transaction volume, order volume, and number of users all hit new highs,” the company said in a report sent to the Global Times on Sunday. However, it did not provide specific numbers.
639 million parcels
In another major indicator, China’s State Post Bureau said on Sunday that China has set a new record by handling 639 million parcels on “Double 11” on Saturday, 1.87 times the volume on regular days and 15.76 percent higher than that of the same day last year. Between November 1 and Saturday, the volume increased 23.22 percent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Alibaba Group, another Chinese e-commerce giant often credited with first launching the “Double 11” shopping festival 15 years ago, said on Sunday that its platforms, Taobao and Tmall, saw “positive growth” during the festival. “For the entire campaign period, Taobao and Tmall recorded positive year-on-year growth in GMV, order number, and participating merchants compared to the same period last year,” the company said in a press release sent to the Global Times.
Various other Chinese online platforms, including livestream sites such as Kuaishou and Douyin, also reported strong sales figures. Douyin, TikTok’s sister app in China, said its daily average GMV and order volume both increased by more than 50 percent, though it did not offer specific sales figures.
New Records
“Judging from the data that have been released for ‘Double 11,’ it seems that sales were quite robust, especially major growth in GMV for certain brands and some even saw new records,” Li Changan, a professor from the Academy of China Open Economy Studies of the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Sunday, noting that sales growth during the “Double 11” offers an important sign for consumption recovery.
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