China shattered the record for the most ecommerce sales in a day on Monday, on what is known in the nation as "Singles Day." It's perhaps best described as some combination of a reverse-Valentine's Day and Cyber Monday, the day of online shopping that follows Thanksgiving.
Chinese citizens had no trouble setting a new ecommerce mark, a fact attributed to the country's rapid growth in online shopping. Alibaba, China's largest ecommerce company, hit the equivalent of $3.1 billion in sales by around 1 p.m. local time, according to CNBC, and total company sales amounted to about $5.75 billion. The afternoon sales figures equaled the total amount of sales on Alibaba's websites in 2012, and that much cash alone was nearly double the amount of money U.S. citizens spent on last year's Cyber Monday.
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Singles Day, which always lands on Nov. 11—or 11/11—draws attention to the number one. But it's more about escaping the number rather than celebrating it. In the days leading up to the holiday, the top trending topic on China's Twitter-like site, Sina Weibo, was "Help Your Roommate Find Someone." More than 200,000 people jumped in on the conversation.
College students started the tradition about 20 years ago because they were tired of conforming to the idea that much of life was centered around finding a mate and settling down. That idea turned into a marketable one and, in 2010, Singles Day evolved into a day of unprecedented country-wide shopping sprees.
Online retailers employ traditional tricks such as edging their prices upward before the holiday in preparation for massive discounts. Amazon sold items this year for up to 90% off, and products on multiple sites included boyfriend body pillows and hoodies that read "I am single because I am fat."
Despite the finger-blistering pace of online shopping this Singles Day, it is only expected to increase. The percentage of people who have Internet access in China is still low compared with the U.S., which means the online shopping holiday has plenty of room for growth. This could set the stage for an ecommerce market that may smash records for years to come.
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