Domestic Demand Slump in China Dampens 'Guanggunje' Success? ... Alibaba Keeps Earnings Private for the First Time

Industry rival Jingdong.com also does not disclose specific sales figures
Impact of Chinese government’s strict zero-COVID policy and big tech regulations

[Image source=Getty Images]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] As China's version of 'Black Friday,' Singles' Day (November 11), has come to an end, Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, did not disclose its sales performance for the first time since the start of the Singles' Day shopping festival. Industry rival JD.com also did not reveal its sales figures for this period this year.

On the 14th, Chinese media outlets such as Zhengquanbao cited securities firm China Merchants Securities, reporting that the scale of e-commerce during this year's Singles' Day period (October 31 to November 11) reached 1.1507 trillion yuan (approximately 214.65 trillion KRW), a 13.4% increase compared to the previous year. Other securities firms also estimated the total e-commerce scale during this period to be around 1 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 13%.

This represents a significant decrease compared to previous Singles' Day transaction volumes. From 2014 to 2020, e-commerce companies' sales during Singles' Day recorded growth rates of 25% to 50% year-on-year.

Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce company, did not disclose sales performance for the first time since the Singles' Day shopping festival began in 2009. Until 2020, Alibaba invited domestic and international media to its Hangzhou headquarters and publicly displayed total sales by time slot on large electronic billboards, a practice contrasting with this year's approach.

However, Alibaba only stated that "despite economic and COVID-19-related headwinds, sales over the 18-day period this year were similar to last year's level." Last year, Alibaba Group's total Singles' Day sales reached 540.3 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 8.5%. JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company, also said it "achieved cross-industry performance" but did not announce specific sales figures.

The poor performance of this year's Singles' Day is analyzed to be due to weakened consumer sentiment amid China's stringent COVID-19 prevention policies. While global economic recession concerns are emerging, the Chinese government’s strengthened regional lockdown measures to prevent COVID-19 resurgence have negatively impacted the domestic market.

China's increased regulation of big tech companies is also cited as a cause of the Singles' Day slump. In the past, famous wanghong (influencers) known as "walking companies" who boosted sales through live broadcasts were prominent during Singles' Day, but they disappeared this year.

Since August last year, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has made "common prosperity" a key national policy to reduce wealth disparity and has intensified crackdowns on tax evasion by celebrities and high-earning show hosts. Wei Ya, known as the "queen" of Chinese live commerce, disappeared from the internet after being fined a huge amount of 1.341 billion yuan (approximately 252.3 billion KRW) by tax authorities in December last year for tax evasion allegations. Wei Ya generated over 1 trillion yuan in sales through a 14-hour live broadcast during last year's Singles' Day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.