What Retailers Can Learn as Alibaba Wraps Its 11-Day Singles Day With $75 Billion in Sales

In the past 11 years, Singles Day has become what Joe Tsai, executive vice chairman of Alibaba Group, called the most important shopping day in China. But, in 2020, it has taken on additional significance as an opportunity for brands to flourish after the pandemic—and to capitalize on consumer desire for so-called “revenge shopping." Last year, Alibaba set a record of $38.4 billion in sales in just 24 hours. This year, the numbers remained impressive with 498.2 billion yuan ($75.1 billion) over 11 days. It was not clear precisely how much of that total came in on Nov. 11 specifically. However, in a blog post, Alibaba noted it moved 372.3 billion yuan in merchandise from Nov. 1 to 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 11, meaning it brought in roughly 126 billion yuan ($19 billion) in 23.5 hours on the day itself. To characterize this as a slump would be unfair. For one thing, the first hour of Singles Day typically sees huge sales. Consider this: It took Alibaba a cool 68 seconds to sell its first $1 billion last year—and it hit $10 billion within the first 30 minutes. This year, however, Alibaba has not disclosed how much consumers spent in the first half hour. What’s more, this strategy of extending an annual sale as years go by is precisely what Amazon has done with Prime Day since 2017 and apples-to-apples comparisons of hourly sales figures are rarely—if ever—made when discussing Amazon’s triumphs. In the first 10 days of the extended shopping festival—although technically the first 10 days and 35 minutes—13 brands surpassed 1 billion yuan ($150 million) in gross merchandise volume (GMV) apiece. Another 340 brands—including Apple, L’Oreal, Estee Lauder, Nike, Lancome and Adidas—had more than 100 million yuan ($15 million) in GMV. Other impressive stats, per Alibaba: On Nov. 1, it took Nike one minute to generate 100 million yuan ($15 million)Within two hours, 100 brands reached the same milestoneDiane von Furstenberg matched its 2019 GMV in 23 minutesCoach matched its 2019 GMV in 30 minutes60 million consumers used Tmall’s 3D shopping feature to browse an Ikea store remotely ‘In China today, shopping is a sport and entertainment’ According to Alibaba group president Michael Evans, as of 11 p.m. local time on Nov. 11, U.S. businesses accounted for more than $5 billion of the total, making the country the second biggest source of brands outside of China. Participating U.S. brands included Mattel, Fender Guitars and Bissell. In a livestream interview with Alibaba, Max Bissell, director of robotics and managing director at the floorcare company bearing his name, said the brand more than quadrupled its 11.11 sales from last year, which he attributed to a 16-hour livestream as the brand seeks to establish itself as a newcomer in the Chinese market. “I think the one thing to focus on first is to understand the Chinese consumer and what they're looking for and what are the ways in which you can better engage them,” Tsai said in the livestream, wearing a blue polo shirt with the Brooklyn Nets logo. (He first bought a stake in the NBA team in 2018 and now owns it outright.) “I would say that in China today, shopping is a sport and entertainment. It's not just about going on to a website and scrolling through some product catalog, you need to engage the consumer, you need to give them a full experience, almost an immersive experience,” he added. According to Evans, the “extraordinary, extraordinary” $75 billion haul over 11 days is proof both the Chinese economy has recovered from the pandemic, and that consumers are not only “strong and powerful,” they are purchasing at pre-Covid levels. But that’s not to say the pandemic’s impact doesn’t linger. “I think also shopping has changed,” he added. “And if you look at the things that the consumers are buying today—food, luxury, autos, home … it's been a change primarily as a result of Covid.” ‘It can be done anywhere from your living room to your own rice paddy’ As Bissell noted, there was certainly more of an emphasis on livestreaming in 2020, which is a theme that dates back to February when Alibaba first opened its platform to farmers to sell produce that would otherwise go bad. Per Alibaba’s figures, it now has 100,000 rural livestreamers. “Through livestreaming, anyone with a smartphone and internet access can do it, and it can be done anywhere from your living room to your own rice paddy,” said Julie Huang, an executive producer at Alibaba’s news platform Alizila. Meanwhile, so-called key opinion leaders, or KOLs, which American consumers would refer to as influencers, used the technology throughout the festival to “reach Chinese consumers and educate them about their products,” Huang said. This included fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, who talked about the enduring popularity of her infamous wrap dress, as well as five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson, who partnered with CBD brand Uncle Bud’s to introduce the brand to the Chinese market. “CBD products and Uncle Bud’s has just been exploding in America, and I think that it's great to bring it to China because it really works,” Johnson said in an interview with Alibaba. “And the fact that … when you're my age and you still work out, I'm hurting every time that's finished, so I use a lot of the products myself, and it's just been exploding and grown and grown and grown.” To break down communication barriers, the platform has enhanced its livestreaming technology to include real-time translation into English, Russian, Spanish and French. It also added AI-based avatars to interact with audiences and answer questions about products. And, of course, 11.11 wouldn’t be 11.11 without its star-studded countdown gala, which, in recent years, has featured Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey. This year, the main act was Katy Perry, who performed a medley of hits virtually. In the end, Tsai said 2020 has demonstrated just how important it is for brands around the world to pay attention to China, Alibaba and Singles Day. “Because of Covid, we'll have to deal with what happens when nobody comes into your stores and the answer to that is digitization,” Tsai said. “I don't think things will really exactly return back to the normal [in the] brick and mortar world. Covid has accelerated … the need for businesses to digitize.” And, of course, as in prior years, Alibaba leaned heavily into this opportunity to market itself as a partner for brands looking to sell in China, as well as to showcase its technology and logistics prowess. That includes a new autonomous delivery robot called XiaomanLV, which can “wend its way safely and carefully through complex traffic conditions,” and was expected to deliver 30,000 packages by the end of 11.11.