During the annual Singles Day shopping event, Xiaomi, a renowned Chinese electronics company, reported exceptional sales across various platforms. From October 23 to November 11, Xiaomi’s sales surpassed 22.4 billion yuan (approximately $3.11 billion) on platforms like Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, and Douyin.
Xiaomi’s shares in Hong Kong experienced a brief surge, increasing over 2% on a Monday morning. Meanwhile, shares of Alibaba and JD.com in local markets initially rose but later relinquished their gains.
Both Alibaba and JD.com, for the second consecutive year, chose not to disclose overall sales figures for the Singles Day event. JD.com highlighted reaching new peaks in transaction and order volumes, while Alibaba reported growth in gross merchandise value, order numbers, and merchant participation compared to the previous year.
In terms of brand performance, JD.com reported that Apple products reached a transaction volume of over 10 billion yuan, mirroring the figure from 2021’s Singles Day, though no comparable data for 2022 was provided. Lululemon, a newer entrant in the Chinese market, witnessed a 260% increase in sales on JD.com compared to the previous year.
Alibaba, however, remained relatively reserved about specific sales data for products or brands during the entire festival.
Xiaomi announced its Xiaomi 14 smartphone as the best-selling item on Alibaba’s Tmall from November 4 to 11 and also claimed top positions in various categories of Chinese smartphone sales on different e-commerce platforms.
HSBC analysts, impressed by the Xiaomi 14’s sales, predicted a positive impact on Xiaomi’s earnings and valuation. They increased their shipment forecasts for Xiaomi smartphones by 7% for 2023 to approximately 150 million units and by 6% for 2024 to 160 million units.
Singles Day, which has evolved from a one-day event to a weeks-long shopping extravaganza in China, saw Alibaba reporting sales “in line” with the previous year during the 2022 Covid-19 pandemic, which had recorded about $84.54 billion in gross merchandise value.
Consumer spending in China has been cautious due to uncertainties about future income. A survey by Bain and Company revealed that 77% of Chinese consumers did not intend to increase their spending for this year’s event.
Live streaming and short video platforms like Alibaba’s Taobao and ByteDance’s Douyin continued to grow as significant sales channels. Livestreaming GMV rose by 19% this year, with Tmall dominating the comprehensive e-commerce platforms category with a 60% share, according to Syntun and Morningstar analyst Chelsey Tam. JD.com and Pinduoduo held 28% and 7% shares, respectively.
Kuaishou, another short video and livestreaming app, reported a nearly 50% increase in orders during the Singles Day period.
Further insights into Singles Day results and consumer trends in China are expected in the upcoming earnings calls of major companies like JD.com and Alibaba later this week.
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