Alibaba launched the 11.11 Global Shopping Holiday in two phases, joining other major retailers in spreading its biggest shopping days over longer periods. The first phase, which ran from Nov. 1 to 3, was already a success, drawing in hundreds of millions of shoppers and setting new gross merchandise volume (GMV) records.
U.S. brands fared well during this period, and Estée Lauder’s Tmall flagship store was the first to surpass 1 billion yuan ($151.4 million) in sales. Estée Lauder and more than 100 other brands including Nike and Apple all achieved more than 100 million yuan ($15.1 million) in GMV during the first 111 minutes of the holiday.
Beauty was the all-star category for the event, achieving more than $1.5 billion in GMV and exceeding 150% year-over-year sales growth during the first hour of 11.11. Additionally, 34 new brands achieved more than $1.5 million in sales during a single day.
Luxury brands posted strong performances as well. Cartier hosted its first jewelry show on Taobao Live to unveil more than 400 timepieces and jewelry items. The livestream attracted 770,000 viewers in two hours.
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The strong start to 11.11 will help Alibaba keep up the momentum coming off a strong quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2020. The ecommerce giant reported a 30% year-over-year revenue increase to $22.8 billion, while annual active consumers on its China retail marketplaces reached 757 million.
Alibaba will begin the second phase of the 11.11 Global Shopping Holiday on Nov. 11 proper.
