Jack Ma Says Hot Weather and a Case of the Mondays Hurt Alibaba on Singles’ Day
Alibaba recorded $38.4 billion in gross merchandise volume — but Ma says he believes the retailer could have done even more.
Update, 1:16 p.m.: Alibaba told FN: “Quoting this sentence – ‘Despite all this, I want to tell everyone that this year’s Double Eleven did not meet the expectations I had imagined because of many reasons.’ – on its own takes it out of context and therefore runs the risk of mischaracterizing Jack’s remarks.”
The e-tailer added that, “Importantly, it was stated in a jocular, hyperbolic way, implying the economy was even stronger than the performance of 11.11 would indicate and that performance could have been even better if the two factors he mentioned here were different (ie. colder weather and a different day of the week). This is the way most in the audience who understood the language interpreted the remarks.”
What We Reported (Nov. 14, 12:26 p.m.):
Alibaba’s 10th annual 11.11 Global Shopping Festival — also known as Singles’ Day — was its best to date, with a record $38.4 billion in sales. Yet co-founder and former Executive Chairman Jack Ma said the sales “did not meet the expectations I had imagined.”
At the 5th World Zhejiang Entrepreneurs Convention on Wednesday, Ma blamed the weather and the day falling on a Monday, as opposed to a weekend, for lower sales than he’d anticipated.
“There are multiple reasons. One of them is that the weather is too hot. Clothes sell better when it’s cold” said Ma in a video that began circling on social media. “Secondly, this 11.11 fell on a Monday. In the past, 11.11 fell on Saturdays so people could stay up and they would still be OK the next morning. Because it fell on a Monday, People couldn’t stay up too late.”
Ma added that he hopes in the future the Chinese government can give workers a half day off to allow more time for shopping.
Alibaba recorded 268.4 billion yuan ($38.4 billion) in gross merchandise volume (GMV) on Singles’ Day — a 26% gain year-over-year. The 26% increase bested analysts’ expectations, according to Ma, who said Wall Street predicted year-over-year gains of 20%.
Following Ma’s comments, Alibaba’s stock took a bit of a dip, decreasing 2.4% Wednesday to close at $182.48.
More than 22,000 brands from 78 countries, including local merchants from Russia, Spain, Italy and Turkey, participated in Alibaba’s 2019 Singles’ Day. Nearly 300 brands surpassed 100 million yuan ($143 million) in GMV, with Gap, H&M, Nike and Adidas among the top sellers.
Ma retired from Alibaba in September, coinciding with his 55th birthday and the 20th anniversary of the company’s founding. He will remain on the board of directors until 2020, with CEO Daniel Zhang taking over the reins.
FN has reached out to Alibaba for comment.
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