Alibaba and JD.com reach record $136.51bn sales during Chinese shopping event

China’s two biggest e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com combined reached a record $136.51bn of sales through their platforms in 24h during 618, an important Chinese shopping event.

The event, which falls on 18 June every year, was being closely monitored this year to see how the coronavirus crisis had affected consumer spending in China.

JD.com said transaction volumes for products and services placed during that day totalled $37.99bn. This figure does not take into account whether the goods are sold, delivered or returned.

Alibaba said gross merchandise value stood at $98.5bn. Alibaba already raked in record value of of $379m on Singles Day last year, another major shopping event in China. This time around it has broken its own record by far.

The record numbers on 618 may point to a recovery with the Chinese consumer, which is a positive even on global terms. Retail sales fell 2.8% in May from a year ago, but online sales of physical consumer goods rose 15.6%. JD.com and Alibaba have benefited from the acceleration of the shift to online shopping in China.