Taylor Swift and all-star gala boost China's super shopping spree

By Zhang Rui: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, November 12, 2019

Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang and his wife Gina Alice Redlinger perform a [piano duet at Alibaba's 11.11 Global Shopping Festival Countdown Gala at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, Nov. 10, 2019. [Photo courtesy of Alibaba Group]

The gala's producer Lin Zhiqiang said the gala keeps innovating every year. "What's new for this year's gala is we decided what to be presented before we decided who should perform," he said, adding that they creatively integrated global elements and poverty alleviation into the show’s presentation.

"We hoped to lead and usher in a new era for the commercial gala event," he continued. "We don't just want to compete against other traditional galas in regard to set designs and stars, we pay attention to the message it will convey, the interaction with users and how to meet their demands. At the end of the day, we hope people who saw the gala could see the shopping day as a festival to be kind to themselves, their families and their friends."

When Taylor Swift finished "You Need To Calm Down," and the gala was set to conclude, it seemed nobody really wanted to calm down. Starting from midnight, it took just 96 seconds for Alibaba Group to net 10 billion yuan ($1.43 billion) worth of gross merchandise volume on Nov. 11. The transaction volume reached 43.99 billion yuan ($6.28 billion) in the first 10 minutes, and hit 100 billion yuan ($14.27 billion) after one hour, three minutes and 59 seconds.

At the end of the event, the gross merchandise value, a figure that shows sales across Alibaba's shopping platforms, had reached a staggering new record of 268.4 billion yuan ($38.31 billion), a 25.71% rise from last year's figure of 213.5 billion yuan ($30.5 billion).