beijing chinese ecommerce giant alibaba group holding ltd recorded 5403 billion yuan 8454 billion in orders or gross merchandise value gmv over its 11day singles day sales event marking a roughly 14 increase from the year prior the results come as overall consumption in china slows and cap a relatively muted version of a sales festival that alibaba once aggressively promoted before the sales period began analysts had said they expected alibaba to report only a minor increase in gmv this year citing slowing retail sales supply shortages power disruptions and covid19 lockdowns advt alibaba turned chinas informal singles day into a shopping event in 2009 and built it into the worlds biggest online sales fest dwarfing cyber monday in the united states since then the festival which alibaba last year stretched to a 11day event with the best deals concentrated in two discount periods nov 13 and nov 11 has become a closely watched gauge of consumer sentiment in the worlds secondlargest economy last year the company racked up 74 billion in gmv over the events 11 days this year alibaba group holding ltd played down its sales figures and touted its social welfare initiatives in the final hours of its singles day festival on thursday marking a shift in tone for the highlypublicized event eschewing a rolling tally tracking transactions that had taken centre stage in previous years alibaba urged viewers of a threehour livestream to click like and help raise 1 million yuan 15635990 for a 200acre 81hectare elephant reserve in chinas rural southwest the ecommerce giant has toned down the marketing hype amid ongoing regulatory tightening from chinese authorities saying its focus was on sustainable growth this year in previous years alibaba would tout chinese consumers demand for washing machines smartphones and makeup with a nightlong presentation of statistics but this year it used its gala to highlight initiatives such as a program that assists disabled individuals in buying apparel and efforts to use more environmentallyfriendly packaging advt still the event remains a top draw for millions of merchants and shoppers with flashy deals and livestreamers hawking products from skincare products to sports shoes on alibabas platforms including its taobao and tmall marketplaces alibaba said that nearly 400 brands including apple inc and loreal sa have raked in more than 15 million in sales each by midday on thursday the shopping event comes after a year of ongoing regulatory tightening from chinese authorities in several industries during which alibaba was a frequent target the ecommerce giant was fined a record 28 billion for monopolistic behaviour in april and its founder jack ma chinas highestprofile entrepreneur has retreated from public view after criticising chinese regulators a year ago reuters published on nov 12 2021 at 0847 am ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this comment offensive choose your reason below and click on the submit button this will alert