Alibaba eyes record Singles' Day sales

Hangzhou (China): E-commerce giant Alibaba will kick off it's 24-hour shopping mega-event on Monday and is hoping to achieve another record 'Singles' Day' sales this year.

The shopping festival, also known as Double 11, is referred as Singles' Day because its date, 11/11 (November 11) consists of four 'ones', representing four singles.

The event, which began in 2009 with a total of $7.8 million in GMV, raked in a record $30.8 billion in GMV in 2018.

More than 22,000 international brands from over 78 countries and regions will participate in this year's 11.11 on Tmall Global, Alibaba's dedicated channel for cross-border e-commerce.

"This year's Singles' Day will have many many new records ," Alvin Liu, General Manager Tmall Global Import Export said.