Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group broke a sales record with 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) worth of online transactions processed within the first 40 minutes of the firm's 11/11 shopping bonanza.
Alibaba Group stepped up this year's 11/11 event as Chinese shoppers were given the capability to buy products from overseas while overseas shoppers also bought products from China.
Online buyers from 175 countries made their transactions on the e-commerce giant's payment platforms on the largest Chinese online shopping spree on Nov. 11.
The shopping event, also dubbed as "Singles' Day," was first established by Alibaba on Nov. 11, 2009. It primarily targeted single people and tempted them to alleviate their loneliness by shopping online with large discounts from the participating retailers.
Last year's "Singles' Day" event generated over 35 billion yuan in the first 24 hours. Over 13 million buyers used Tmall, Alibaba's e-commerce platform, within the first minute of 2013's event. Orders within the first minute reached 117 million yuan.
Alibaba did not disclose its target for this year's 11/11 event, but some analysts estimate that the figure will be larger than 2013's as the event went global this year.
Head equity analyst Neil Flynn from Chineseinvestors.com said that e-commerce companies need to broaden their products if they want to keep their large consumer market. Additionally, firms would need to expand their consumer base for further growth.
Stake share price for the Alibaba Group on the New York Stock Exchange increased to $114.5 on Nov. 7 from $100 three days ago.
Alibaba is the world's seventh largest company in terms of market value.