China's Singles Day online sales hit about 1.78 trillion yuan, up 4.8%, as growth slows sharply

BEIJING, Nov 12 — China's Singles Day shopping festival has come to a close. Online retail data platform Syntun said total e-commerce sales across the country reached about 1.78 trillion yuan (about US$250 billion) during this year's festival, up 4.8% year on year, a sharp slowdown from last year's 14.2% growth.

Instant retail is the growth engine

The report covers sales from Oct. 7 to Nov. 11. Instant retail — including Taobao Flash Sale, Meituan Flash Sale and JD's instant delivery service — totalled 89.1 billion yuan, up 33% year on year, making it the fastest-growing segment this year. JD said sales of AI computers, AI cameras and AI glasses more than doubled year on year during the festival, with searches and sales of large-model token packages surging on its platform.

Platforms switch to direct discounts; majors keep totals private

This is the 18th year mainstream e-commerce platforms have run the Singles Day festival. A Citigroup research note said platforms have shifted strategy markedly, replacing complicated bundle-to-discount rules with direct price cuts and concentrating subsidies on high-value members; the major platforms continued their practice of not disclosing total transaction value, focusing instead on category performance, user engagement and AI-driven sales metrics. Citi had forecast low-to-mid single-digit growth for the festival, after industry sales rose just 4% during the June 18 festival — broadly in line with Syntun's 4.8% figure.

(Sources: Syntun; Citigroup; JD.com. Figures are third-party platform estimates; the platforms did not publish official totals.)