Alibaba's Singles' Day shattered sales record on Nov. 11 with a gross merchandise value of more than $30.8 billion happening with a 24-hour period. This surpassed the $25.3 sales record in 2017.
The day generated $1 billion in sales in about one minute and 25 seconds from the minute the event officially kicked in. The next hour already saw more than $10 billion in sales which was five minutes and 21 seconds faster than what the day achieved in 2017.
With this, China's Singles' Day Sales became bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday, not even Amazon's Prime Day came close.
This has been the 10th year that the "unofficial holiday" is being celebrated in China. The event has also been called the Double 11 sales because it always happens on Nov. 11
There was more than 40 percent of shoppers who bought from international brands, generating more than $14 million in gross merchandise value. These global brands included Apple, Kindle, Dyson, Estee Lauder, Nestle, L'Oreal, Gap, Adidas, and Nike.
All in all, there were 180,000 local and international brands across 29 Alibaba units that participated in the China Singles Day Sales. The event was promoted to Chinese living across Asia, the United States, and Australia.
The day's record sales have exceeded the transaction volumes of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, according to CNBC.
China Singles Day Sales has even eclipsed Amazon's Prime Day which is also a 24-hour online shopping spree. In July, Amazon sold over 100 million items which analysts said only amounted to $4 billion.
Joe Tsai, Alibaba executive vice chairman, said the major driver of the record-breaking sales was "the rise of the Chinese middle class." He added that the middle class would also be the key to China's resilience amid global trade tensions at present.
Per unit, Alibaba's Tmall generated volumes of orders just within minutes that the festival was opened.
Delivery orders for Cainiao Smark Logistics Network kicked in 40 minutes before the end of the day, reaching $143 million of sales compared to $116 million last year.
Ele.me delivered Starbucks across 11 Chinese cities.
The 150,000 Koubei merchant affiliates gave 50 percent off on food, beauty salons, hair salons, and karaoke bars.
Lazada, which was owned 83 percent by Alibaba since March, also contributed to the sales as it held its own Singles' Day shopping spree across six Southeast Asian markets.
Alibaba's Ling Shou Tong promoted the event online through its 200,000 mom-and-pop stores as well as Freshipo supermarket chain.
Rural Taobao gave coupons across 800 counties across 29 Chinese provinces.
