Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) truly embraces the idea of shopping until you drop. Each year, the Chinese e-commerce leader hosts a 24-hour shopping festival known as Singles Day. Although this year was a little bit different thanks to the novel coronavirus, Singles Day just wrapped up and is already boosting BABA stock. Why? Singles Day sales in 2020 brought $74.1 billion in gross merchandise volume.
We explored Singles Day more in depth earlier in the event, but essentially, it is the largest online and physical shopping holiday in the entire world. After starting as a way for single university students in China to celebrate themselves, it has become a massive opportunity for Alibaba and its retail peers. Just think about it. Singles Day brought in $74.1 billion in GMV.
With the 2020 Singles Day all wrapped up, here is what you need to know:
- Alibaba typically hosts Singles Day as a 24-hour shopping festival. This year, it launched some of the discounts at the start of November.
- Importantly, Singles Day seamlessly blends entertainment and shopping. Beyond discounts, this entertainment factor helps drives sales.
- What does this entertainment look like? Well, brands hosted all-day and all-night livestreams to engage customers and provide a more personal shopping experience.
- Beyond livestreams, there was also an emphasis on retail technology, including digital payments, 3D shopping and autonomous package delivery.
- Unsurprisingly, the novel coronavirus did force organizers to change their plans. There was less focus on in-person shopping and more on the digital experience.
- Leading up to the event, 96% of Chinese consumers said they planned to participate.
- That forecast, combined with the success of the 2020 Singles Day sales, suggests that the Chinese economy is recovering well from the pandemic.
Alibaba Singles Day 2020 and BABA Stock
Clearly, Singles Day is really the epitome of what is working in retail right now. But beyond the sales success and the embrace of new technology, why does it really matter? And even more importantly, why should U.S. investors and consumers tune in to a Chinese shopping holiday?
Alibaba has ready answers for those questions, and discussed them at length during its wrap-up festival livestream. As it turns out, more U.S. brands than ever before are starting to launch products in the Chinese market and participate in Singles Day. As executives from guitar brand Fender put it, they have found success moving into a new market and capitalizing on similar trends. With Fender, coronavirus catalysts saw impressive guitar sales as more shoppers focused on learning a new skill.
Also importantly, Singles Day is truly a market-moving event. Raking in $74.1 billion in GMV as part of one single shopping festival, it is a force to be reckoned with. Especially when you consider the attention investors pay to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and its Prime Day, Alibaba deserves some love.
On the date of publication, Sarah Smith did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Sarah Smith is a Web Content Producer with InvestorPlace.com.
