Five Takeaways From Alibaba's Record-Busting $9.3 Billion Shopping Fest

Five Takeaways From Alibaba's Record-Busting $9.3 Billion Shopping Fest

Alibaba set a new record selling $9.3 billion in merchandise during the annual e-commerce holiday. The sales on Nov.11 exceeded the 2013 record of $5.8 billion. Approximately, 43% of sales came from the mobile channel. Alibaba's ambitions are growing bigger, more mobile and more global.

So what are the big takeaways?

1. Size Matters: Everything the company does is larger than life! The company invited more than 600 reporters to its headquarters in Hangzhou, offers more than 1 billion product listings on its platforms and had the record for the biggest initial public offering.
2. Jack Ma is the Steve Jobs of China: The big buzz of the night was whether Mr. Ma would appear.
3. Mobile has momentum: Every year Alibaba growths its mobile sales, the figure was 5% in 2012, 21% last year and nearly 43% this year. In China, many people are going online for the first time on a smartphone, not a desktop which gives mobile  a  big room for growth.
4. Chinese brands win: Even with many big western brands available, the top sellers were local brands.  
5. Alibaba has global ambitions but is laying low in the U.S--for now: Joe Tsai, Alibaba's executive vice chairman, said the focus now is bringing goods from U.S. merchants to Chinese consumers, though targeting U.S. shoppers could be interesting later on.

Read the complete article: Five Takeaways From Alibaba's Record-Busting $9.3 Billion Shopping Fest
Source: A.Doland. (2014, November 11). Five Takeaways From Alibaba's Record-Busting $9.3 Billion Shopping Fest. Ad Age