Through the Lens: China’s Singles Day shopping festival

A worker sorts packages at a logistics distribution center in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, as shopping activity picks up over the Singles Day sales period. © Getty Images The Singles Day shopping festival, one of the biggest annual events for China's e-commerce industry, concluded on Wednesday after a promotional campaign that stretched for about a month.

The Details

Sales over the period rose 4.8% from a year earlier to 1.78 trillion yuan ($267 billion), according to data released by Syntun on Thursday. But that increase is sharply lower than the 14.2% recorded a year earlier.

Consumer sentiment has weakened considerably in China where a prolonged property downturn, uncertain income prospects and a lack of job security continued to weigh on spending.

Singles Day once fell only on Nov. 11 but has now has evolved into a weeks-long promotional season. E-commerce platforms now compete for shoppers through subsidies, discounts, livestreaming and artificial intelligence-powered shopping tools, including chatbots.

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