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Alibaba founder Jack Ma Mark Lennihan/AP/Press Association Images

Alibaba just racked up a record €7.5 billion in sales for its 24hr Chinese 'shopping festival'

That’s more than Irish consumers spend online in a year. No wonder its founder is so happy.

CHINESE E-COMMERCE MEGA-RETAILER Alibaba has clocked up €7.5 billion in 24 hours for its annual online “shopping festival”.

The sale comes on “singles day”, when millions of young, unmarried Chinese are encouraged to buy themselves gifts in a 24-hour spendathon.

It has turned into a shopping bonanza with rival e-commerce companies like Amazon China and HD also join the day-and-night sales push.

But Alibaba has made the date its own and this year recorded about €1.6 billion in sales during the first hour after midnight alone.

By 2pm Beijing time it had broken its previous record from last year of $5.8 billion (€4.7 billion) for the full 24 hours.

To put the latest spending binge in context, a UPC report recently put the annual value of Irish consumers’ online spending at €5.9 billion.

At the end of the full 24 hours, Alibaba had clocked up a mind-boggling 278.5 million orders worth some CNY57 billion (€7.5 billion), according to a feed on the company’s website.

Alibaba Alibaba Group Alibaba Group

Never heard of Alibaba? Now you have…

Alibaba set the record for the largest stock market float in history in September when it raised $25 billion in its initial public offering in New York.

It was founded by the former English teacher, now entrepreneur Jack Ma, whose personal net worth has been put at some $24 billion, a man known for spouting business and money advice.

When you have $1 million, you’re a lucky person. When you have $10 million, you’ve got trouble, a lot of headaches,” he said in September.

Although huge in China, the company was little known outside the world’s second-biggest economy until the lead-up to its New York launch.

It offers everything from clothes to cars and medical products for sale, and the company has started rolling out international sites like its 11 Main online shop for US customers.

But ‘singles day’? Seriously?

The “singles day” phenomenon started about 20 years ago as an excuse for students to celebrate, however five years ago Alibaba took over the date with heavy discounts and sales promotions.

China Matchmaking Two participants in a mass matchmaking event for last year's singles day in China. Eugene Hoshiko / AP/Press Association Images Eugene Hoshiko / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

The name comes from the date – 11 November, or 11.11 – being made up of four “singles” and it has also come to feature, somewhat ironically, everything from weddings to wild bachelor parties.

Alibaba was recently granted exclusive rights by the Chinese government to use the name “double 11″ for the event, which has been likened to one western retailer getting a monopoly on Valentine’s Day.

READ: This is the smile of a man whose company will float at $24.3 billion >

READ: Online or bricks and mortar? This is how most Irish shoppers spend their money >

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10 Comments
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    Mute Cheeky Charlie
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    Aug 7th 2019, 7:23 AM

    It will take centuries to undo the mess left after the British Empire … as well we know

    122
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    Mute De20
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    Aug 7th 2019, 8:49 AM

    It’s a bit of a stretch to Jammu and Kashmir chose to join India. The Maharajah decided to join India, the population had no choice in the matter

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    Mute thephantomshit
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    Aug 7th 2019, 10:10 AM

    @De20: lots of counties do things because their leaders decide to. Referendums are actually very unusual. Even when they occur it isn’t very clear what the population decided to do.
    And even dictators often (not always) do what the “population” wants. They tend to get overthrown otherwise.

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    Mute Cormac Ó Braonáin
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    Aug 7th 2019, 9:43 AM

    ‘Jammu and Kashmir chose to join India over Pakistan’

    Wow, what a claim! Makes it all the more cringe worthy to see that it’s coming from an Irishman. Mr McCrave must believe Ireland chose to join England in personal union in 1542 and the UK in 1801.

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    Mute thephantomshit
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    Aug 7th 2019, 10:11 AM

    @Cormac Ó Braonáin: Pakistan supported militants invaded kashmir so they opted to join India.

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    Mute jackbello
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    Aug 7th 2019, 10:13 AM

    @Cormac Ó Braonáin: “”"”liberation”"”"” of the region from the British ????
    Slighted loaded , perhaps negative description ?

    How about something less perjorative /negative ?- liberation would suggest the British had somehow enslaved the princely state which patently it had not .

    In any case , what’s worse ? To be ruled by some local maharaja fabulously rich at the expense of the ruled , a prince with unlimited power , or be ensconced in the civilising embrace of the British empire???? The absolute power of a prince -but tempered with the guidance and restraint of London , for your average subject that was hardly seemed a bad deal…

    When it came to independence in 1947 the last maharaja was sad to see the British go – to then be forced to chose between India or Pakistan must have been awful.

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    Mute Cormac Ó Braonáin
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    Aug 7th 2019, 11:21 AM

    @thephantomshit:’they opted to join India’? did ‘they’ now? Maybe you can tell me when this vote took place.

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    Mute Thomas Devlin
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    Aug 7th 2019, 2:53 PM

    @jackbello: the civilizing British?as in Bloody Sunday?the many massacres of civilians in India the Irish famine,Cromwell,the paras,the glennane gang I could go on and on but I’d rather stay uncivilized thank you

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    Mute Amod Gokhale
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    Aug 7th 2019, 2:57 PM

    @Cormac Ó Braonáin: When did NI vote to join UK ? or for that matter when did Germany vote to end World War II. You will be surprised to know that till 1950s,many countries were ruled by kings and kings took the decision for the local populace.
    In case of Kashmir, King decided to join neither India or Pakistan when asked in 1947 after British left.
    But Pakistan became impatient and attacked a sovereign state of Kashmir which meant the king had to decide. Either surrender or join India to allow India to sent defence forces. He chose to join India.
    That’s how ‘they’ opted for India

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    Mute Ashish Uday Lal
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    Aug 7th 2019, 3:17 PM

    @jackbello: Yes, liberated from the occupying British who entered a country producing 25% of the worlds GDP and left with a country producing 3%. Plundered resources, added value and sold them exclusively back at extortionate rates. Millions killed in famine like the Bengal famine. Oh well they got the railways and ‘civilisation’…rule Britannia and all that old chum…

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    Mute Tim Pot
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    Aug 7th 2019, 11:48 AM

    not much of an international response which has been strange.

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    Mute Amod Gokhale
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    Aug 7th 2019, 3:00 PM

    @Tim Pot: I didn’t see any international response when NI assembly was dissolved either. It was an internal matter for UK. Similarly this is an internal matter for India. India is not changing the demographic in any way, shape or form.

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    Mute Ashish Uday Lal
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    Aug 7th 2019, 3:11 PM

    @Amod Gokhale: An internal matter where the President in a highly questionable move passed a law in the middle of the night while putting the Kashmiri parliament under house arrest, shutting down the internet, and putting the entire population under curfew. Not particularly democratic of the world’s largest democracy and most certainly questionable by the outside.

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    Mute Amod Gokhale
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    Aug 7th 2019, 8:26 PM

    @Ashish Uday Lal: There was no parliament in Kashmir for over a year. It was dissolved as the ruling coalition broke up and no party formed majority.
    The handful of leaders who are supposed to be jailed have been periodically tweeting and talking to reporters in total Internet blackout and under arrest. How is that??
    There were months of large scale demostrations and stone pelting when a militant died about 2yrs. Its only natural for federal govt to take drastic measures before aborating 370 when main local parties had warned of death and destruction if it happens.
    There is an important Muslim festival next week. Let’s see if there is a let up in lock down or not.

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    Mute Amod Gokhale
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    Aug 7th 2019, 2:45 PM

    “while the latter territory, with a sizeable Muslim population will not”. Are you kidding me ? Ladakh (the latter in the sentence) is predominantly Buddhist. Infact they were above 90% Buddhist in 1970s when muslims from Kasmir started to settle there.
    Historically (last seven decades) the Buddhist and Muslims in Ladakh were demanding separation from Kashmir anyway.
    This current decision to split is old demand met by federal government.

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    Mute Ashish Uday Lal
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    Aug 7th 2019, 4:02 PM

    @Amod Gokhale: So in a democracy someone ‘demands’ something and the federal government does it? Where’s the debate, the vote? What evidence do you have of large scale Kashmiri migration to Ladakh? It would be difficult to find as there is none.

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    Mute Amod Gokhale
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    Aug 7th 2019, 8:11 PM

    @Ashish Uday Lal: Well actually, yes. In democracy the govt heeds demand of Common population and reacts accordingly. Ladakh currently is ruled by two hill councils and both passed resolutions demanding UT status. The current curfew status is not valid in Leh and Kargil. On Monday, there were pictures in many Indian news channels about normalcy in Ladakh. About 4-5 yrs back, J&K govt split Ladakh into two districts. A Muslim dominated Kargil and Buddhist dominated Leh. If muslim migration wasn’t happening, where did the Muslim population came from. As outsiders cannot come and buy land in J&K under article 370, the population has to from the state i.e. Migration.

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    Mute Amod Gokhale
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    Aug 7th 2019, 8:39 PM

    @Amod Gokhale: a correction : the districts were formed in 1980s not 4-5 as I said previously.

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