The world's biggest online marketplace seems to have a penchant for outdoing itself. By the close of Singles' Day, China's counterpart of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States, the giant e-commerce site recorded a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $14.33 billion, obliterating the company's own record of $9.3 billion recorded last year, according to BBC News.
The total sales this year, which were posted by the e-commerce behemoth early Thursday morning, showed a 60 percent improvement from the company's performance in 2014. The numbers also far exceeded that of analysts' predictions.
The massive number seems to highlight the resilience of Chinese shopping despite a significant slowdown in the country's economic growth. In a way, it is the silver lining in an economy that is weakening at a rate not seen since the global financial crisis, reports The Wall Street Journal.
Jack Ma, Alibaba's executive chairman, admits that the economic problems of the country are very real. He does, however, believe that China's economy shall rise once more in the years to come.
"This is a great day and it symbolizes the great power of China's domestic consumption. Of course, we believe the next five, 10 months, China's economy might have big problems. It is a bumpy time, but the economy will be better over the next 15 years," he said.
Singles' Day, celebrated on Nov. 11 each year, is China's ode to bachelors and bachelorettes. It is a day that encourages those who are single to splurge, treat themselves and enjoy the single life.
For more news about Alibaba's Singles' Day sales, click here.
