‘Huge increase’ in numbers spending during Black Friday shopping promotion in China

The number of people in China buying foreign products during the “Black Friday” shopping promotion in November increased seven-fold compared with the same event last year using one payment method, according to a newspaper report.

The huge increase was recorded using e-commerce company Alibaba’s Alipay system, the Beijing Morning Post said. The newspaper did not give exact figures for the numbers shopping.

Seventy per cent of those spending were women, the report added.

READ MORE: ‘Red Friday’: America’s Black Friday turns a more auspicious colour for Chinese shoppers

“Black Friday” is a big shopping day after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States, but retailers have been trying to promote the event in China.

Sales of products bought directly from overseas websites using Alipay increased 15 fold from last year during the three days starting from November 27, the report said.

The online shopping website Ymatou.com, which only sells foreign goods, said millions were buying on the site last Friday

“This year’s Black Friday has instigated Chinese people’s enthusiasm for buying overseas products,” Zeng Bibo, the company’s chief executive, was quoted as saying. “The festival has attracted many people who had no experience of buying products from foreign websites in the past and it demonstrates that consumption globalisation has permeated into the daily life of Chinese people.”