Alibaba Group generates nearly US$21 billion at 2017 11.11 Global Shopping Festival

Source: Alibaba Group. Alibaba’s third annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival Gala.

Alibaba Group Holding had generated nearly US$12 billion of gross merchandise volume (GMV) settled through Alipay in the first two hours of the 2017 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, which saw participation from more than 140,000 brands. The company announced that more than US$25.3 billion — 39% more than last year’s record-breaking numbers, of which 90% of activity came from mobile.

Early highlights of this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival included:

· US$1 billion of total GMV was settled through Alipay in the first 2 minutes and 1 second. As of 6pm, the latest totals available at the time of writing, total GMV had exceeded US$20.8 billion.

· US$11.9 billion of total GMV was settled through Alipay in the first 2 hours, and mobile GMV settled through Alipay accounted for 91% of total GMV

· Alibaba Cloud processed 325,000 orders per second at peak within the first hour

· Alipay processed 256,000 payment transactions per second at peak within the first hour

· In the first hour, more than 60 brands each generated more than US$15.1 million, including international brands Apple, Estée Lauder, Gap, L’Oreal, Nike, Samsung, Uniqlo and Zara, among others

As of 8:45pm, Wan Lin, President of Alibaba’s logistics affiliate Cainiao Network, announced that the number of delivery orders generated had approached 700 million—exceeding last year’s record 657 million parcels during the 24-hour shopping festival. A partnership with China’s top customs authority signed this year has helped the company clear 10 million cross-border parcels by 4pm, faster than the two full days it took to clear 5 million last year, he shared.

In a press conference held towards the end of the day Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang said that:

- Alibaba's focus is not solely on driving up 11.11 GMV. The company also wants to understand the evolution of customers’ buying habits and their lifestyles in order to predict their needs before even they do. To do so means that Alibaba is not only meeting customer demand, but also creating demand.

- There are more and more Alibaba fans outside of China, such as in Southeast Asia. This is why Alibaba has teamed up with the Malaysia government create to create a regional hub in Kuala Lumpur.

- The "new retail" strategy is to capitalise on Alibaba’s technology to empower brick-and-mortar shop owners to go digital. The important thing is to understand consumers so that the company can provide services and goods that are best suited to them.

- India is an example of a country that could skip the traditional retail model and go straight to new retail, but there are hurdles such as infrastructures and logistics.

- Alibaba is considering taking its annual 11.11 gala overseas, but so far there are no confirmed details to share.

Ant Financial CEO Eric Jing also disclosed during the 11.11 announcements that Ant will launch a new function on Alipay on November 12. Huabei Balance allows users to pay off their friends’ debts using the popular digital credit card service.

In the hours leading up to the shopping event, Alibaba hosted its third annual gala to celebrate the official launch of the festival. Viewers were able to experience the gala live via Youku, the Tmall and Taobao mobile apps, YouTube as well as across China through Zhejiang TV, Beijing TV and Shenzhen TV. This year, the gala featured celebrity appearances and performances from Pharrell Williams, Nicole Kidman, Maria Sharapova and Jessie J, among others.

11.11 Global Shopping Festival wishes in the Mercedes-Benz Arena, Shanghai.

The 11.11 shopping festival began in 2009 with participation from 27 merchants as an event for merchants and consumers to raise awareness of the value in online shopping. Last year, nearly 100,000 merchants participated in the global shopping event, with consumers spending US$17.8 billion during the 24-hour period.

Hashtags:  #Double11, #NewRetail

*GMV for the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival is the total value of orders settled through Alipay on Alibaba's China retail marketplaces and AliExpress within a 24-hour period on November 11. It is reported on a real-time basis and includes shipping charges paid (where applicable). Transactions related to international brands, defined as brands created outside of mainland China, and user data are limited to Tmall.

All GMV, mobile GMV and other figures presented in this press release are unaudited and subject to adjustments.