Singles Day 2020 soars past prior records in year of e-commerce boom

The Nov. 11 shopping holiday begun by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, dubbed "11.11" or "Singles Day," broke records again in 2020, with gross merchandise sales of $74.1 billion to nearly double the 2019 sales total. Alibaba’s logistics subsidiary Cainiao processed 2.32 billion orders for delivery during the sale. [caption id="attachment_93200" align="alignright" width="450"] Photo/Alibaba[/caption] This year’s sale was extended from the traditional 24-hour period to 11 days, from Nov. 1-11, with the main event held Nov. 11 and earlier pre-sale and sales windows from Oct. 21-31, Nov. 1-3, and Nov. 4-10. The expanded time frame was part of an effort to increase the number of new merchants and brand participation, as well as grow small business participation in the sales festival, according to Alibaba. While impressive, the year-over-year increase in Singles Day sales was largely expected, as the global pandemic has led to e-commerce surges in most markets as shoppers stay home to avoid contracting the virus. In support of this shift away from brick-and-mortar retail, China’s General Administration of Customs published a policy earlier this year supporting cross-border export sales using e-commerce platforms. Alibaba also touted China’s strong economy, which rebounded comparatively quickly following early efforts to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, according to the New York Times , for attracting new brands and merchants to the massive sales event. The United States was the largest cross-border seller to China during the event, with sales from U.S. brands totaling $5.4 billion. Other top countries for sales to China this Singles Day included Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and the U.K., the company said. In support of growing cross-border volumes, Cainiao ramped up its charter network in recent weeks, expanding its charters operated by Atlas Air as of November. In June, the company said it planned to quadruple its international charter flights to around 1,260 flights through March 2021 . Of those, Alibaba’s recent fact sheet estimated that 700 flights would operate during Singles Day. As part of a long-term investment in air cargo logistics, Cainiao this week took a stake in newly privatized Air China Cargo, reports Cargo Facts . Cainiao also launched in the Japanese market just ahead of this year’s Singles Day. The launch includes two B2C warehouses in Tokyo and Osaka, measuring 20,000 square meters and 13,000 square meters, respectively, and within 10 kilometers from Tokyo’s Narita Airport (NRT) and Haneda Airport (HND), respectively. Cainiao also opened two B2B warehouses within 15 km of their nearest ports: one in Yokohama spanning 10,000 square meters and one in Kobe measuring more than 19,000 square meters. The expansion into Japan is expected to reduce total shipping times from 18-22 days to 11-13 days, and improve efficiency by 40%. In-country operations cover first- and last-mile services, warehouse management, international shipping, trucking and customs clearance.

Singles Day 2020 soars past prior records in year of e-commerce boom

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Singles Day 2020 soars past prior records in year of e-commerce boom

Lufthansa Cargo launches new eBooking portal

Specialty cargo in focus: United’s pandemic shipments

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