Brands raise millions when Alibaba Individuals Day enters its final stretch by Reuters

By Josh Horwitz

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – More than 380 brands from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ 🙂 and L’Oreal SA have raised more than 100 million yuan ($ 15.7 million) each. Alibaba (NYSE 🙂 The band kicked off their Singles Day festival on Nov. 1, the company said Thursday.

The online blitz is an 11-day event, with the best deals wrapped up in two discount periods, November 1st to 3rd and November 11th. Last year it raised $ 74 billion in orders, or “gross value of goods” (GMV).

Alibaba has curtailed its nL4N2RO2XZ marketing forecast this year amid tight regulatory controls, but the event remains a major attraction for millions of retailers and buyers with skin care and live players selling products to sports shoes.

China’s most popular live streaming hosts, Li Jiaqi and Viya, began playing live on October 20, selling products worth more than 11.5 billion and 8,530 million yuan, respectively, according to Chinese media.

Analysts, however, said they expect Alibaba to report only a small increase in GMV this year, citing a slowdown in retail sales, a shortage of supplies, power outages and COVID-19 blockages.

The company has withdrawn its audience for its annual entertainment gala this year and has not given a press release to reporters for the first time, citing COVID-19 measures. Instead, he chose to play the event live.

On the eve of the last 24 hours of the event, the gala, which aired live on Wednesday, featured British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, best known for his portrayal of the fictional crime fighter Sherlock Holmes, who provided clues to the puzzles solved by video hosts. Before the pandemic, Star Day galas saw performances by stars like Taylor Swift and Pharrell Williams.

Track star Su Bingtian, the first Chinese to compete in the men’s 100-meter final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, also appeared this year, along with other Chinese celebrities and performers.

Purchasing events have been limited by the Chinese authorities for a year of constant regulatory tightening, with Alibaba being a frequent target in several industries.

The e-commerce giant set a record $ 2.8 billion in monopoly behavior in April and its founder Jack Ma, China’s most important businessman, has moved away from public view after criticizing Chinese regulators a year ago.

The crackdown has been extended over the period of Individual Day sales. On November 5, Guangdong provincial regulators met with several e-commerce companies, including Alibaba, to warn them of uncompetitive practices, counterfeit goods and other issues.

Alibaba declined to comment on the meeting.

($ 1 = $ 6.3916)