Nov 11 online shopping spree in China offers opportunities for others: Turkish experts

ISTANBUL - China's online shopping spree on Nov 11 each year is presenting great opportunities for enterprises and industries in other parts of the world, Turkish business insiders said on Tuesday.

For Selman Guler, a foreign trade consultant with Istanbul-based Far East Agency, the record sales which he put at 169.2 billion yuan ($25.5 billion) on Nov 11 this year came as a surprise to him.

The volume is bigger than GDP of many countries, displaying to the world the purchasing power of the Chinese, he said.

"It is clear that Nov 11 online shopping has become not just an activity, but a way of living for the Chinese," he told Xinhua. "I think if it goes on like this, Nov 11 may turn a global shopping carnival."

As a matter of fact, trade alone at Alibaba, China's largest e-commerce platform, reportedly reached 168.3 billion yuan ($25.4 billion) on Saturday's shopping promotion, a day known in China as Singles' Day because the date, 11-11, resembles four "bare sticks," a term used in the country to refer to single people.

Nov 11 has become an online shopping spree since 2009 when Alibaba's Tmall made its first online sales promotion, and it is on par now with "Black Friday," when most US retailers online or offline offer promotions.

In Guler's view, the Nov 11 shopping spree is offering great opportunities for enterprises both inside and outside China. He expects new record sales next year, advising all enterprises to get ready for it in advance.

For Hakan Bas, a 34-year-old Turkish entrepreneur and co-founder of more than 20 companies including lidyana.com, Singles' Day will spread all over the world as the consumers get to know the concept better and the retailers start commercializing "this potential occasion."

"As the world's second largest economy and with its huge consumer base, China offers a great potential for many industries, especially for e-commerce sites thanks to diminishing boundaries in terms of logistics and payment systems," he said.