China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba earned 168.2 billion yuan (US$25.3 billion) in 24 hours of the Double 11 shopping festival, its flagship event, the China Securities Journal reported.
The shopping frenzy, now in its eighth edition, has turned into the world’s largest online shopping festival in terms of scale — four times that of US Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined, Alibaba said.
Sales of merchandise on Alibaba affiliated platforms hit 168.2 billion yuan in 24 hours, a 40% surge from a year ago. JD.com, Alibaba’s major rival and the country’s second-largest e-commerce platform, also reported 127.1 billion yuan in orders on Saturday.
At least 331 million packages were handled by Chinese postal and courier companies on Saturday, 31.5% more than the same day last year, the State Post Bureau said. And 90% of total sales this year were made on mobile devices, up from 82% in 2016, Alibaba said.
The online shopping festival is held every November 11, or “singles’ day,” since 2009, with local and global brands offering discounts on Alibaba’s Taobao marketplace and Tmall online stores.