INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Sales growth for the annual shopping festival this year eased to 26 per cent.Chinese shoppers snapped up food supplements, facial masks and
baby milk powder at the world's largest shopping festival, with brands such as L'Oreal and Nestle among the biggest winners, Alibaba data
The Chinese e-commerce giant's annual Singles' Day shopping blitz on Monday brought in a record 268.4 billion yuan ($38.38 billion) in
sales, more than six times the amount of online sales made in the United States on Black Friday last year.It kicked off this year's
24-hour shopping bonanza with a live performance by US pop star Taylor Swift followed by the live-streamed marketing of over 1,000 brands
Alibaba said on Tuesday that 299 brands surpassed 100 million yuan in gross merchandise value, among them smartphone makers Huawei
supplements were the most popular import product, while sales of makeup, diapers and face wash were also strong.Sales growth for the annual
shopping festival this year eased to 26 per cent, the weakest since the event started in 2009, in a reflection of how e-commerce sales in
China have been slowingAnalysts, however, said the growth rate had slightly beaten their expectations, saying that more aggressive
promotions, a focus on attracting more customers from rural cities, and even the overall slowing economy might have helped as people sought
23 per cent."What's happened is that you've had a lot of consumers this year being a little bit more careful about their purchasing
because the economy's slowing down," said Ben Cavender, managing director of consultancy China Market Research Group
"I think this year especially, people were kind of waiting for Singles' Day and kind of waiting to make some of those medium-sized purchases
that they didn't want to pay full price for."Liu Xingliang, internet analyst at DCCI Data Center, who was among guests invited to Alibaba's
headquarters on the day of the event, said the firm's efforts to reach smaller, lower-tier cities with real bargains played a significant
"I saw them selling electronic tooth brushes at 9.9 yuan ($1.42), and 65-inch TV sets at 1,800 yuan ($257.36)
People in lower-tier cities and towns can afford these products and in fact, they like big TVs more than city people, because they usually
have larger houses."Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on TheIndianSubcontinent.com
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