Bankinter | Yesterday marked the biggest online shopping event of the year in China (and the world), known as ‘Singles’ Day’ (11.11). Launched in 2009 by Alibaba as a promotional event, it has grown in duration over the years. In 2025, it began on 9 October (JD.com) and 11 October (Alibaba), the earliest start in its history, resulting in a duration of five weeks compared to 28 days in 2024 and 11 days in 2023, in an attempt to counteract weak domestic consumption. In addition to extending it to 20 new countries, Alibaba has invested ¥7 billion this year in discounts for its VIP customers, AI tools to facilitate searches and product recommendations, and ultra-fast one-hour deliveries. The country’s main online platforms (Alibaba, JD.com) stopped publishing their sales figures for this event in 2022, so the results of the event are only known through external estimates.
Last year, according to consulting firm Syntun, sales reached ¥1.44 trillion (¥1.2 trillion), with growth of 27% mainly due to the longer duration of the event and 5x the amount sold in the US during Cyber Week (¥3.7 billion according to Adobe Analytics).
Analysis team’s view: It is difficult to assess consumption growth during this event given the different duration and lack of reliable figures. In any case, sentiment appears more moderate than last year in an environment of economic slowdown (Q3 GDP up 4.8% versus 5.2% in Q2 and 5.4% in Q1), inflation close to 0% (up 0.2% year-on-year in October) and retail sales losing momentum over the year (up 3.0% year-on-year in September versus 5.9% in January). Prices for new and used homes have risen 28% and 27% year-on-year, respectively. and retail sales losing momentum over the year (up 3.0% year-on-year in September versus 5.9% in January). Prices for new and second-hand homes have fallen for 28 and 29 consecutive months, respectively, leading to consumption patterns, especially for luxury goods, that are more closely linked to wealth than to income. At the beginning of the year, the Chinese government approved subsidies for the purchase of domestic products, such as cars, appliances and domestic tourism, but consumer confidence is fragile in the context described above. The recent Golden Week holiday saw more local travel but less per capita spending than last year.
