Wind of change blows for shopping festival

Singles Day focuses on development, green future

In past years, the Singles Day shopping festival has been a celebration of consumerism, with eye-catching discounts, star-studded sales promotions and impressive revenue figures championing the power of spending.

This year, things were different. Instead of staggering revenue, the main considerations for the gala, which was launched by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group 12 years ago, were inclusive growth and eco-friendliness.

Sales growth was recorded, but at a slower pace. The 24-hour sales figure, or gross merchandise volume in e-commerce terms, was 540.3 billion yuan ($84.5 billion), a modest 8.45 percent year-on-year rise.

In previous years, sales growth of between 20 percent and 50 percent has been recorded.