Purchases on Alibaba’s online retail platforms rose 50% over the previous year to US$14.3 billion on Tuesday’s Singles’ Day shopping event, The Guardian reported, citing preliminary sales figures from the company. The figure was boosted this year by adding sales from new channels including the e-commerce firm’s affiliates and investees, such as brick-and-mortar electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group. The company first co-opted the November 11 mock-holiday – which had previously celebrated China’s unmarried – in 2006, and founder and executive chairman Jack Ma boasted to reporters the event’s annual growth in the future would top 50%. Another of China’s major online retailers, JD.com, said it had completed more than 20 million transactions the same day.
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