Alibaba mum on Singles Day sales tally, says in line with 2021 (updated)
12/11/2022 09:53
(Adds sales estimate, story link, edits)
By Casey Hall
SHANGHAI, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group 9988.HK
opted not to disclose the final sales tally of its annual
Singles Day shopping festival for the first time since it
started the event in 2009, saying only that results were in line
with last year.
Last year's 8.5% rise in gross merchandise value (GMV) for
Alibaba's platforms had been its lowest yet, following a 26%
jump in 2020. Before 2020, the festival was a one-day event.
The e-commerce platform said in a press release early on
Saturday that the event had "delivered results in line with last
year's GMV performance despite macro challenges and
COVID-related impact."
Growth has been slowing in recent editions of Singles Day -
the world's biggest online shopping festival that has, despite
its name, evolved into a lengthy event and become a barometer of
Chinese retail demand.
Other indicators showed that Chinese consumers clutched
their wallets tight this year and continued seeking relatively
economical home brands over pricier expensive labels, as
consumer sentiment has been hit by stringent COVID-19 curbs and
a sharply slowing economy.
Singles Day growth this year had been widely predicted at
flat to low single digits.
Alibaba did not respond to requests for comment on its
decision to avoid releasing figures on the 11-day sales event
ended that ended on Friday.
Yang Zengdong, 40, a teacher in Shanghai, said she had
second thoughts about participating in Singles Day at all this
year, but when the final sales period started on Thursday
evening, she ended up purchasing about the same amount as last
year.
"I think it's something deep in the mind of Chinese people
that if you don't buy on Singles Day, you are missing out on an
opportunity," she said.
Consultancy Syntun on Saturday estimated Alibaba and other
Chinese e-commerce firms holding Singles Day shopping events
together logged 934 billion yuan in sales, up 2.9%.
Citi analysts said this week they were conservatively
forecasting Alibaba's GMV for the event to range from 545
billion yuan to 560 billion yuan ($75 billion to $77 billion),
with growth of 0.9% to 3.6%.
The e-commerce giant has for over a year toned down hype
around the event as Chinese President Xi Jinping increasingly
emphasises "common prosperity" - a push that seeks to eliminate
growing wealth inequities and clamp down on what the Communist
Party sees as excessive behaviour.
Alibaba did not hold its usual celebrity-studded gala this
year or any in-person media events, citing the pandemic.
The company's Tmall marketplace offered Singles Day deals on
more than 17 million products, 3 million more than last year,
with a record-matching 290,000 brands participating.
Alibaba did not say which brands sold well but said sales of
high-tech beauty devices, such as gadgets to cool and lift
facial skin, had surged some 5,570% from last year, while carpet
cleaners and smart kitchen appliances had been selling extremely
well.
Rival JD.com also did not publish GMV or sales growth but
said Apple Inc AAPL.O sold over 1 billion yuan ($140 million)
worth of products in the first minute of the event's final sales
period on Thursday evening, which is marked by deeper discounts.
During those 10 minutes, turnover for 87 international
beauty brands, including Estee Lauder EL.N , L'Oreal OPREP.PA
and L'Occitane 0973.HK , tripled from last year, JD.com said.
($1 = 7.1066 Chinese yuan renminbi)
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Posh ice cream, craft beer in vogue as Chinese downsize their
love of luxury urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N30C1RT
Chinese brands outnumber foreign names among Singles Day
best-sellers urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N31K0HC
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(Reporting by Casey Hall and Sophie Yu; Editing by Brenda Goh,
Edwina Gibbs, Richard Chang, Cynthia Osterman and William
Mallard)
((Casey.Hall@thomsonreuters.com;))