Alibaba sets sight on attracting 500 million customers around the world to shop online on 2019 Singles’ Day this November 11
- The company is hoping to attract an additional 100 million consumers based on its analysis of data and consumer behaviour, but declines to provide targeted sales value
- More than 200,000 brands will be taking part in the shopping extravaganza and over 1 million new products will be on sale
Alibaba Group Holding is expecting an additional 100 million consumers to shop on its Tmall and Taobao online platforms but declined to provide targeted sales value for the Singles’ Day shopping festival on November 11.
The e-commerce giant said on Monday that based on its analysis of data and consumer behaviour, the number of participants is likely to top 500 million during the world’s largest single-day shopping event. Dubbed as China’s Black Friday, it is a bellwether of consumer demand in the world’s most populous country.
“We are no longer chasing bigger gross merchandise value (GMV),” said Jiang Fan, president of Taobao and Tmall, during a press conference in Shanghai. “We hope this year’s festival will generate social value by attracting more participants.”
He added that Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, aimed to stimulate consumption demand and support lifestyle upgrade through new brands and products.
Beijing has been striving to spur consumer spending to drive the slowing economy since the US-China trade war began 15 months ago.
In the first half of this year, retail sales were the biggest contributor to the country’s economic expansion, accounting for 60 per cent of the growth.