YESTERDAY ONE E-COMMERCE SITE SOLD FOR 2 BILLION USD IN 2 MINUTES, WITH 90% CHECKOUTS ON MOBILE DEVICES

Do you know what day it was yesterday? Yesterday it was Saturday but more specifically it was 11/11 or double 11 aka Singles day in China. back to the future speaker

Perhaps you have heard about this day but most people I talk to have no clue about what this day is all about so I thought it's about time that more in my network knows about it.back to the future speaker

To keep it short its the day when the largest e-commerce site globally sells like crazy starting off the day with more than 2 billion USD in sales during the first 2 minutes closing the day at 25,3 billion USD, that's an increase by 39% since last year. back to the future speaker

Just imagine the pressure on all systems during a load like that for 24 hours and not to mention the pressure on the distribution centers for all those deliveries. back to the future speaker

But first, let us start with some e-commerce history

The concept of Double 11 is inspired by Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two days related to huge discount deals that started in the USA and has been used in more and more countries around the world. back to the future speaker

Especially as companies grow and expand to other countries where the base of the stores IT environment is managed from one country making sure that the company can assure its future growth capacity. back to the future speaker

As companies in Europe with business in the USA noticed the positive outcome of these discount days the decision to replicate the same in Europe was an easy one. back to the future speaker

Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a business term that is widely used in both US and Europe. back to the future speaker

What is Black Friday?

Most people know about Black Friday by now as it starting to become a big thing in Europe also. back to the future speaker

The term "Black Friday" was coined by the police in Philadelphia back in 1952. The day following Thanksgiving day hordes of people would descend into the city and ahead of the annual Army/Navy football game on Sunday.  back to the future speaker

Stores took advantage of all the extra business by promoting big sales and the cops were stuck with long shifts. Nowadays retailers open very early and even have overnight opening hours with promotional sales. back to the future speaker

People line up outside retail stores to grab the seasons best discounts and things tend to go out of hand. Where even people die from being run over as the crowd pushes into the stores and there are reports of shootings between shoppers that are eager to grab the best deals. This focus on reporting fatalities and serious injuries year by year during the Black Friday sales frenzy: http://blackfridaydeathcount.com  back to the future speaker

This has proven successful with sales of 655,80 billion USD for the retail stores in the USA last year. back to the future speaker

Cyber Monday a.k.a. Cyber Black Friday and Black Monday

Was created back in 2009 by Talya Schaeffer at eCoupons.com. 

The E-Commerce industry created this day with the same concept as Black Friday but did not want to compete about ad space during Black Friday.  back to the future speaker

As Cyber Monday is an online shopping holiday; consumers don't have to worry about their personal safety as there's no reason to go knocking down the doors of your local retail store. back to the future speaker

During Cyber Monday the online stores are more strict about the discount period of 24 hours than Black Friday retail stores are, where many of the Black Friday deals are available over the weekend. back to the future speaker

Double 11 a.k.a. Singles day and 11/11

The sales strategy surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday obviously got the attention of Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group. back to the future speaker

And instead of just piggybacking on the concept of Cyber Monday Jack Ma launched his own day and used the magic surrounding the date 11/11. back to the future speaker

The day was originally called Bachelors Day, originating from Nanjing University in 1993. The date, November 11th (11/11), is chosen because the number "1" resembles an individual that is alone. But also a play on the date where the idea that 11 represents a single person’s two legs. back to the future speaker

And eventually got the name "Singles' Day" because the date consists of four "one"s

Alibaba rebranded singles day to double 11 in 2009 as a discount shopping event for young adults.  back to the future speaker

This festival has become the largest offline and online shopping day in the world with sales in Alibaba's sites Tmall and Taobao at over US$17.8 billion in 2016. back to the future speaker

The term "双十一" (meaning "Double 11") was trademarked in China by Alibaba Group on December 28, 2012. In October 2014 Alibaba made the warning that it might take legal action against Chinese media outlets that advertise any rival retailer using the Double 11 “brand”. back to the future speaker

Alibaba even got the governments approval for the sole legal right to the Double 11 expression in the form of the SAIC notice.

This year double 11 turned out just as amazing or even more than expected.

• About 90 percent of the transactions were done via mobile.

• At its peak, the company’s processors handled 256,000 transactions per second.

• Orders were placed by shoppers from at least 225 countries and regions 

• Ahead of the event, nearly 100,000 of Alibaba group owned Tmall stores across China was outfitted with facial recognition technology to process payments. back to the future speaker

• To be able to handle the huge amount of orders Alibaba has since 2015 been developing their drone delivery service and just 4 days ago they did their first drones delivery flying over water with several packages. The drones can carry up to 7 kilograms while flying into the strong wind.

Jack Ma also launching the future of OmniChannel today which he calls the “New Retail”.

“New retail,” a notion to describe the increasingly blurred boundaries between online and offline shopping experiences. Where goods purchased on online are delivered directly from its physical storefront to a customer’s home.

The difference here is that it's not a pickup in store solution but where the store is acting as the local warehouse for the delivery services. back to the future speaker

If we now compare that to the stats Alibaba shares on their sales for Cyber Monday and Black Friday we are sure to say that Double 11 smashing the competition.

Jack Ma and Alibaba Group background:

It had to begin somewhere and this is the first recorded sales pitch of Jack Ma back in 1999 (its just 2 min): https://youtu.be/9LUct8A9vFw

To me, it's strange that so few people are not aware of this day and even don't know how big Alibaba Group has grown the last few years and the amazing success of Jack Ma and the many struggles along the road. back to the future speaker

He started his company with a seed round investment from family and friends of $60,000 in cash gathered from 18 people he now has a net worth of 47.6 billion USD being the worlds 11rh

About the author:

Karl Lillrud is a serial entrepreneur with 21 years of experience from this segment. Founder of one of the first interior design e-commerce sites in the Nordic countries where he back in early 2000 learned about the many challenges that e-commerce struggle with even today. back to the future speaker

That's why Karl decided to help companies overcome these hurdles and focus on what matters most, keeping customers happy and helping the companies improve their market position. Being a public speaker and entrepreneurial mentor Karl love to share his experience and knowledge with the one goal to help others reach their success easier and faster. back to the future speaker

Source:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/364543/alibaba-singles-day-1111-gmv/

https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/jack-y-ma/

http://time.com/4106634/singles-day-china-alibaba-baba/

https://www.techinasia.com/singles-day-niche-bachelor-holiday-worlds-biggest-online-shopping-bonanza

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-black-friday-3305710

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelzakkour/2017/10/31/singles-day-alibabas-vision-for-the-future-of-retail/#32055cb068e0

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/10/alibaba-sales-surge-to-5-billion-in-15-minutes-on-singles-day.html

http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2006/11/Cyber_Monday_E-Commerce_Beats_Forecas

thttp://blackfridaydeathcount.com