IS your virtual shopping cart ready, as the annual Nov. 11 online shopping spree is around the corner? Adding to fever of the shopping carnival is the news that Taylor Swift is heading to China to perform at Alibaba Group’s annual Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza Sunday, followed by a concert in Guangzhou at Tianhe Sports Center the next day. The pop star will perform at Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena on Sunday evening along with a lineup of prominent stars and personalities from China and other parts of Asia. Among the acts slated to shill online shopping for Alibaba are Chinese singer-songwriter and actress G.E.M., local pop star Hua Chenyu, Japanese singer Kana Hanazawa and over a dozen others. More than a few U.S. sports and entertainment figures — including Scarlett Johansson, David Beckham, Mariah Carey and Daniel Craig — have flocked to the Alibaba-produced spectacle in years past to build their brands among Chinese consumers. Swift has built a solid fanbase in China. According to Bloomberg which quoted Universal Music Group (UMG), Swift’s latest “Lover” album sold 1 million copies in China during the first week of its release Aug. 23. Meanwhile, her previous album “Reputation” also saw 1 million copies being consumers in China. Swift was also listed as one of the best sellers contributing to UMG’s revenue increase in the first nine months of 2019 to about US$5,613 million. Singles’ Day was invented in the 1990s as an alternate to Valentine’s Day, since the date on which it is held, 11/11, appears graphically as the loneliest of calendar numbers. In 2009, Alibaba struck on the ingenious marketing ploy of encouraging Chinese consumers to purchase themselves a treat, or several, on Singles’ Day (in that sense, it’s arguably the most selfish of holidays, too). Alibaba’s first Singles’ Day promotion, designed to drum up sales for the company’s upstart Tmall service, scored US$7.7 million in revenue. Alibaba’s Singles’ Day Gala Show, held each year Nov. 10 and broadcast live across China, has since grown into a hybrid spectacle combining elements of a pop concert with a variety show, the New Year’s Eve countdown and the Home Shopping Network. The show features appearances, skits and performances involving local and international celebs — past participants have included Kobe Bryant, Kevin Spacey, Nicole Kidman and others — and builds up to midnight, when Alibaba launches cut-rate sales across its various e-commerce services, encouraging viewers at home to buy, buy, buy. In recent years, the shopping extravaganza has generated more revenue than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. Last year’s event, resulted in US$30 billion in sales over Alibaba’s platforms in just 24 hours. Alibaba previously stated that over 200,000 brands will be participating in this year’s annual gala with 1 million new products on offer and participation from more than 500 million users expected — about 100 million more than last year. Estimated consumer savings from brand and platform promotions and coupons are around 50 billion yuan (US$7.46 billion). Cainiao, a smart logistics network under Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, says it is piling goods of nearly 5 million tons from every corner of the world into its warehouses, to cope with the vast logistics “war.” According to Cainiao’s data, goods the company have prepared for this year’s “Double 11” could fill the Bird’s Nest stadium 1,000 times, and are as heavy as 16,000 Airbus A380s. Among the commodities, facial masks, feminine care products and shampoo are the top three pre-ordered products. The face masks prepared by the company could be sold to every person in South Korea — a massive consumer of such products — five times. Moreover, snacks prepared by Cainiao warehouses could feed faculties and students of an entire university for a whole year. (SD-Agencies) | 