Alibaba Singles' Day Sales Hit $8.6 Billion in First Hour

Alibaba kicked off its annual Singles’ Day shopping bonanza, logging $8.6 billion in sales within the first hour, according to Bloomberg.

Shoppers from at least 192 countries and regions swarmed the e-commerce giant to scoop up discounts at a rate of as many as 256,000 transactions per second. The Chinese company hosted a star-studded gala enlisting tennis star Maria Sharapova and American rapper Pharrell Williams to pump sales. As the event got underway, 93 percent of transactions were done via mobile.

Analysts are expecting another record day on Alibaba’s platforms, with Citigroup predicting a 31 percent rise in transactions to 158 billion yuan ($23.8 billion). While that’s only half of last year’s growth rate, it still dwarfs other events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Billionaire founder Jack Ma is using this year’s event as a testing ground for his plans to revamp China’s $4 trillion traditional retail sector with technology, an experiment that could help the behemoth gain an edge in China’s saturated retail market.

“The work that’s been done in the integration of offline and online, not just in terms of the technology integration, but the data and efficiencies for brands and the consumer through personalization has been enormous,“ Alibaba President Mike Evans said in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “We see the impact of it in our day-to-day business.“

“On the back of 11-11, we will probably have to distribute north of 700 million packages,“ Evans said. “That is a massive, massive number of packages that requires a robust logistics network both in China and outside of China, and we will continue to invest in that business, and by moving to a controlling position, we will be able to ensure the right degree of quality.“