Alibaba hosted a star-studded gala with tennis star Maria Sharapova and American rapper Pharrell Williams to pump sales. Photo: ReutersHong Kong: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Singles’ Day shopping bonanza broke last year’s all-time high of 120.7 billion yuan ($18.2 billion) by 1:09pm in Beijing, with about 11 hours still to go before the final bell. The Chinese company hosted a star-studded gala with tennis star Maria Sharapova and American rapper Pharrell Williams to pump sales. Citigroup Inc. has predicted transactions will rise by more than 30% to 158 billion yuan this year. As with convenience stores, Alibaba is trying to franchise the Hema model that combines a supermarket, restaurant and fulfillment center in a single location on its technology platform.

Source: Mint November 11, 2017 09:45 UTC