Alibaba enlisted top celebrities, including the Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson, to drum up attention on its 24-hour shopping event of November 11, which may give clues about the health of the Chinese economy.
After reaching into each other’s home markets and beginning to compete in India, the American and Chinese online shopping giants are now expanding into the diverse market of 600 million people in Southeast Asia.
On Singles’ Day last year, held on November 11 and “featuring awkward appearances from James Bond and Frank Underwood,” Alibaba sold $14.3 billion in merchandise. This year, the company wants to expand China’s official online shopping holiday even more, with appearances by Katy Perry, OneRepublic and Kobe Bryant.
Walmart's Sam's Club in China targets a somewhat broader demographic than in the U.S., offering $1,700 bottles of Lafite and $295,000 diamond rings in addition to bulk groceries and other discount products.
"The enthusiasm about these companies should really be enthusiasm about China's growth and economy and not about these companies and them going global," says Scott Kennedy, deputy director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Thanks to the busy lives of young shoppers, ecommerce sales of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are growing seven times faster in China than in the U.S.
Alibaba reported a second-quarter increase in sales of 55 percent compared with the same period a year earlier, though the total value of goods sold on its online platforms shows signs of a plateau.