The Alibaba Group launched the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival 2017, a one-day global online shopping promotion earlier this month on November 11. It set a record of reaching half a billion new customers and generated US$25.3 billion (Bt839 billion) in sales in a single day.

The festival was launched in Shanghai and lasted for exactly 24 hours. The festival resulted in a 39 percent increase in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) sales settled through Alipay. About 90 per cent of total sales went through mobile platforms. Alibaba’s online trading exchange handled more than 325,000 orders, of which 256,000 were through Alipay. There were more than 60,000 international brands and traders available to Chinese consumers. The top-selling international brands were Apple, Estee Lauder, Gap, L’Oreal, Nike, Samsung, Uniqlo and Zara.

Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group said, “More than US$25 billion of GMV in one day is not just a sales figure. It represents the aspiration for quality consumption by Chinese consumers and it reflects how merchants and consumers alike have now fully embraced the integration of online and offline retail.”

Chris Tung, Alibaba’s Chief Marketing Officer, said, “Our goal is not to get into the bricks-and-mortar retail business but rather to help bricks-and-mortar operators restructure and enhance their operations, including customer experience, inventory management and retail spaces, to enable them to succeed in the digital era. This year’s Festival will be the first time that merchants and consumers experience New Retail, Alibaba’s drive to integrate online and offline shopping experiences”. He attributed the success of the festival to the progress made in big data technology, artificial intelligence (AI) technology, facial recognition technology, augmented reality (AR) technology, cashless payments, product information from barcode/QR scans and New Retail platforms.