China's Alibaba Sets New Singles' Day Sales Record With More Than Eight Hours To Go in 24-Hour Shopping Festival

Alibaba Group surpassed last year's Singles' Day record with more than eight hours to go before the end of the 24-hour shopping festival, cementing its position as the world's biggest retail event and assuaging concerns that Chinese consumer sentiment is softening. From a report: The gross merchandise value surpassed last year's tally of 168.2 billion yuan ($25.3 billion) at 3:49 pm on Sunday. Also known as Double 11, the shopping extravaganza will draw to a close at midnight. Consumers spent a total of 168.5 billion yuan (US$24.3 billion) as of 3:53 pm. Sales were helped by the participation of Alibaba's Southeast Asia unit Lazada, as well as subsidiaries Ele.me, Koubei, supermarket chain Hema and other business units. The total gross merchandise volume (GMV) for this year's Singles' Day -- or the value of total transactions on the platform -- is keenly watched as a barometer of consumer spending and retail health in the world's second-biggest economy.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.