Singles’ Day posts record haul despite slower pace, as China’s antitrust moves dampen world’s biggest online shopping event

The world’s biggest online shopping event recorded a slower pace of annual growth pace after Alibaba Group Holding swapped the usual razzamatazz of Singles’ Day for a more down-to-earth event that stressed sustainability.

Alibaba reported that gross merchandise value (GMV) for this year’s Singles’ Day grew to a record 540.3 billion yuan (US$84.5 billion) during the 11-day campaign, marking 8.45 per cent year-on-year growth. This is the first single-digit GMV growth since Alibaba created Singles’ Day in 2009.