- Xiaomi said from October 23 to the end of the day on November 11, products worth more than 22.4 billion yuan ($3.11 billion) were sold on platforms such as Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo and having sold Douyin.
- Alibaba and JD.com refused to release total figures for the Singles Day shopping festival for the second year in a row.
- GMV from live streaming during the shopping festival rose 19% this year, according to estimates from data firm Syntun and Morningstar senior equity analyst Chelsey Tam.
YICHANG, CHINA – OCTOBER 29, 2023 – Customers experience Mi 14 series phones at a Xiaomi store in Yichang, Hubei Province, China, October 29, 2023. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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BEIJING – Chinese smartphone and consumer electronics company Xiaomi posted record sales across all platforms during the Singles Day shopping festival.
Xiaomi said from October 23 to the end of the day on November 11, products worth more than 22.4 billion yuan ($3.11 billion) were sold on platforms such as Alibaba’s Tmall and Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo and having sold Douyin.
Xiaomi shares briefly rose more than 2% in Hong Kong trading late Monday morning. Locally traded shares of Alibaba and JD.com gave up earlier gains.
For the second year in a row, the two online shopping giants refused to reveal the total figures for the Singles Day shopping festival.
JD said only that transaction and order volumes had reached record highs. Alibaba said gross merchandise value, order numbers and participating merchants increased compared to last year. GMV measures sales over time.
JD said the transaction volume of Apple products by brand exceeded 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion). That’s the same number JD announced for its 2021 Singles Day results. No comparable figure has been reported in 2022.
Lululemon, a relatively new brand in the Chinese market, saw a 260% year-on-year increase in transaction volume on JD during the shopping festival, the Chinese retailer said.
Alibaba did not provide detailed sales by product or brand throughout the shopping festival.
Xiaomi claimed its newly released Xiaomi 14 smartphone was the top seller on Alibaba’s Tmall from November 4th to November 11th. The company also ranked first in various categories of Chinese brands’ smartphone sales on other online shopping platforms.
“Much better-than-expected Mi14 sales lead to earnings growth and a possible valuation reassessment,” HSBC analysts wrote in a Nov. 6 report.
“We are increasing our smartphone shipment forecasts for Xiaomi by 7% to approximately 150 million units in 2023e and by 6% to 160 million units in 2024e,” the analysts said.
Over the last decade, Singles Day has evolved from a one-day shopping festival to a multi-week period of shopping promotions on various online platforms in China.
In 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Alibaba said its Singles Day sales were “at the same level” as the previous year, which at the time had recorded the equivalent of $84.54 billion in GMV.
Uncertainty about future earnings has weighed on retail sales in China in recent years.
Ahead of this year’s shopping festival, a survey by Bain and Company found that 77% of consumers in China had no plans to increase their spending.
Livestreaming and short-form videos on platforms such as Alibaba’s Taobao and ByteDance’s Douyin remained a growing distribution channel.
GMV from live streaming during the shopping festival rose 19% this year, according to estimates from data firm Syntun and Morningstar senior equity analyst Chelsey Tam.
Tmall accounted for the majority of sales at 60%, in a category that Syntun described as “comprehensive e-commerce platforms,” Tam said in a note.
JD accounted for 28% while Pinduoduo had a 7% share, the report said.
Kuaishou, a short-video and livestreaming app, said orders increased nearly 50% during the Singles Day shopping period.
More details on Singles Day results and Chinese consumer trends could be revealed on company earnings calls later this week. JD.com is expected to release its quarterly results on Wednesday evening, while Alibaba is scheduled to release its results on Thursday evening (Beijing time).