jch10400
(jch10400)
15
Here’s what I found on a news site:
Shoppers have spent more than $25bn (168.2bn yuan) during China’s annual Singles Day, smashing previous records for the world’s largest retail event.
Single’s Day, promoted annually by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and held on 11 November, was supposedly started by bachelor university students in the 1990s who bought themselves presents as a kind of anti-Valentine’s day. The date 11/11 was chosen for its collection of lonely ones.
Companies offer deep discounts for a range of products sold during the 24-hour period. But some deals have limits, such as the first 33 customers who had the chance to purchase a lifetime supply of the Chinese spirit baijiu for just 1,111 yuan (£1,275).
The retail event is now nearly four times larger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two biggest shopping days in the US. This year saw customers spend about 40% more on Alibaba than last year, and 2016’s sales figure was reached in just 13 hours with $1bn spent in the first two minutes after midnight.
Other e-commerce companies also cut prices, but the event is closely associated with Alibaba.