Alibabas Jack Ma Says Singles Day Shopping Results Miss Expectations

Alibabas Jack Ma Says Singles Day Shopping Results Miss Expectations

SHANGHAI—Alibaba Group Holding Inc. co-founder Jack Ma said on Nov. 13 results from the Singles Day ..

SHANGHAI—Alibaba Group Holding Inc. co-founder Jack Ma said on Nov. 13 results from the Singles Day annual online shopping festival had missed the Chinese e-commerce giants expectations.

Launched in 2009, Singles Day has become Chinas version of U.S. online sale event Cyber Monday, which follows Americas Thanksgiving holiday. Analysts monitor sales on Singles Day to gauge consumer sentiment in China.

The Chinese shopping festival is held on Nov. 11 and is also referred to as Double Eleven because of the date.

“This years Double Eleven did not meet the expectations I had imagined,” he said at the 5th World Zhejiang Entrepreneurs Convention.

In a video circulated by Chinese media outlets, Ma said one reason for this was the warm weather. “As soon as the weather gets cold, apparel starts to sell a bit better,” he said.

He also said the event fell on a Monday this year, discouraging people to shop at night before going to work.

“So we hope that for Double Eleven in the future the country will give everyone a half-day off,” he said.

Alibaba did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Alibaba primarily generates revenue from advertisement rather than purchases on its site.

Chinese Consumers Spending Less

Chinas economic growth sank to a three-decade low of 6 percent over a year earlier in the quarter ending in September.

The companys dimmed sales outlook suggests the economic downturn is beginning to affect the non-financial parts of the domestic economy, including Chinas middle-class consumers, The Epoch Times reported.

Whats causing a souring mood among consumers? Few reliable consumer confidence gauges exist in China, but negative headlines around the ongoing trade war have increased the level of fear among the middle clRead More – Source

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