An advertisement for the Singles’ Day shopping event on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Tmall ecommerce platform at a subway station in Shanghai, China. A slump in consumer confidence from recurring Covid lockdowns and heightened scrutiny on Internet firms was already casting a chill over an annual event that’s shattered sales records since its inception in 2009. — Bloomberg
A year ago, one of China’s most famous Internet celebrities sold about US$1bil (RM4.69bil) of products – from shampoo to scarves – in a 14-hour livestream as part of Singles’ Day, the country’s annual e-commerce extravaganza.
This year, the 37-year-old super saleswoman known as Viya won’t take part in the world’s biggest shopping event at all after disappearing from the Internet since being fined for tax evasion. A slew of other popular livestream stars who have found themselves caught up in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on celebrity are also likely to be missing this year, dulling the glamour and likely hurting the takings of the marathon event that ends Nov 11.
