Xiaomi Sets Singles Day Sales Record at $3.11 Billion.
During the Singles Day shopping festival, Chinese tech company Xiaomi reported a groundbreaking $3.11 billion in sales across various platforms.
From October 23 to November 11, Xiaomi achieved this impressive figure through platforms like Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, and Douyin.
Xiaomi’s performance caused a brief uptick of over 2% in its Hong Kong-traded shares on Monday morning. However, Alibaba and JD.com chose not to disclose their total figures for the second consecutive year, though both acknowledged reaching record highs in transaction and order volumes.
JD.com noted that transaction volume for Apple products exceeded 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion), maintaining the same figure as in 2021. Xiaomi, on the other hand, claimed its newly released Xiaomi 14 smartphone topped the sales charts on Alibaba’s Tmall from November 4 to 11.
Additionally, it secured the leading position in various categories of Chinese brands’ smartphone sales on other platforms.
Lululemon, a relatively new entrant to the Chinese market, experienced a remarkable 260% increase in transaction volume on JD.com during the festival compared to the previous year.
Despite the overall success of Singles Day, Alibaba did not provide extensive details on sales by product or brand for the entire festival period. Xiaomi’s positive sales performance led HSBC analysts to express optimism about the company’s future, anticipating increased smartphone shipments by 7% in 2023 and 6% in 2024.
Over the past decade, Singles Day has evolved from a one-day event into a multi-week shopping extravaganza across various online platforms in China. Amid the uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022, Alibaba reported sales “in line” with the prior year, amounting to $84.54 billion in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) at that time.
Concerns about future income have impacted retail sales in China in recent years. A survey by Bain and Company revealed that, ahead of this year’s festival, 77% of Chinese consumers did not plan to increase their spending.
Livestreaming and short videos on platforms like Alibaba’s Taobao and ByteDance’s Douyin continued to be a significant sales channel during the shopping festival. Livestreaming GMV increased by 19%, with Tmall accounting for 60% of sales in the “comprehensive e-commerce platforms” category. JD.com contributed 28%, while Pinduoduo had a 7% share.
Kuaishou, a short video and livestreaming app, reported a nearly 50% growth in orders during the Singles Day shopping period.
More detailed insights into Singles Day results and Chinese consumer trends are expected during corporate earnings calls later in the week. JD.com is scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday evening, while Alibaba’s earnings release is set for Thursday evening Beijing time.
