Alibaba Singles’ Day sales hit $23 billion in first nine hours
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Monday said sales for its annual Singles’ Day shopping blitz hit 158.31 billion yuan ($22.63 billion) in its first nine hours, up 25% from the same point last year. The Chinese retail juggernaut, with a market value of $486 billion, kicked off this year’s 24-hour shopping fest with performances by American pop star Taylor Swift and local celebrities such as Jackson Yee. Sales hit $1 billion in the first minute and eight seconds and reached 84 billion yuan in the first hour, up 22% from last year’s early haul of 69 billion yuan. Alibaba saw sales worth $30 billion on its platforms on Singles’ Day last year, dwarfing $7.9 billion U.S. online sales for Cyber Monday.
Read the complete article by Reuters at CNBC.
WeChat Pay Partners up with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and more to allow foreign visitors to Make Payments in China
Chinese payments giant WeChat Pay can now be used by foreign visitors to pay for goods and services in China. The Chinese payments giant has partnered with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover Global Network, and JCB to allow foreign visitors to link their credit cards to WeChat Pay. This marks the first time that foreign visitors will be able to use international credit cards to pay with WeChat Pay in China. Previously, WeChat Pay only supported users that had mainland Chinese bank cards, savings cards, and credit cards. This is an extremely important development as it makes it a lot easier for foreign businesses to do business in China, since before customers were limited in their payment options. This means China has taken a huge step forward ahead of other countries.
Read the complete article by Campbell Kwan at ZDNet.
Tod’s nine-month sales slip; hit by Italy weakness and Hong Kong protests
Like other luxury goods makers, Tod’s, best known for its trademark rubber-soled loafers, has been hit by the weeks of anti-government protests and unrest in the Hong Kong, adding to pressure from weakness in its home market. Italian luxury group Tod’s posted a fall in nine month revenues and said it would be “challenging” to meet analysts’ full year profit forecasts as it steps up investments to bolster sales hit by a weak domestic market and turmoil in Hong Kong. Greater China profits rose 0.7% at constant exchange rates as mainland China, which represents more than 60% of the region, “more than offset the sharp slowdown” recorded in Hong Kong, the company said.
Read the complete article by Claudia Cristoferi, Silvia Aloisi and Kirsten Donovan at Reuters.
China Tells e-commerce Companies To Stop Acting Like Monopolies
Ahead of Singles’ Day, More than 22 Chinese E-Commerce Companies Were Called Out For Aggressive Discounting
As Singles’ Day approaches on November 11, the Market Supervision Bureau of Shanghai met with 22 e-commerce companies to address problems with counterfeits, quality issues, and aggressive discounts. The government demanded that the e-commerce companies, including Pinduoduo, Meituan, Little Red Book, eleme, Yang Matou, and more, to promote Singles’ Day based on rules and regulations.
Read the complete article by Ruonan Zheng at Jing Daily.
JD.com opens largest interactive offline store in Western China
JD.com has opened its largest offline store in Chongqing today, offering products from more than 1,000 local and international brands to celebrate Singles’ Day. The store, JD E-SPACE, spanning 50,000 square metres, features a wide variety of products, including electronics, home appliances, digital accessories, health, fitness and beauty products, and office supplies. To further enhance the shopping experience, the store also features some brand-experience zones such as Apple’s largest authorised offline experience store; Microsoft’s first future-smart home experience area in China; General Electric’s first omni-channel home appliances store in China; and scooter manufacturer Ninebot’s first authorised offline experience store in China. Other than products, JD.com said that JD E-SPACE is also the only store offering 5G network coverage in China. The store also features dynamic price tags to ensure store prices are aligned with online prices; QR codes for consumers to place orders instantly; and robots to guide customers and introduce products.
Read the complete article by Simon Yuen at Marketing Interactive.
Tesla’s Marketing Plan Aims to Lead China’s EV (Electronic Vehicle) Market
To compete in China’s market, Tesla might be adopting a strategy that differs from its strategies elsewhere in the world. The company reported in its 10-Q that during the third quarter, its US sales declined by 39% year-over-year. During the quarter, its China sales increased 64% year-over-year. Ahead of production starting at its Shanghai Gigafactory, Tesla (TSLA) is refining its China strategy. It is markedly different from the one followed by the company elsewhere in the world. Reuters reported that Tesla plans to double the number of repair and maintenance shops in the country. The company also plans to add about 100 charging stations in China. This current plan is at odds with what Elon Musk stated in February: In contrast to closing retail stores, Tesla now plans to open new retail stores in China.
Read the complete article by Anuradha Garg at Market Realist.
