Online retailers poised for sales boom on "Singles' Day"
光棍节临近 网上掀起商品促销高潮

Online retailers in China are gearing up for an expected shopping fiesta on November 11th. That’s the unofficial, but hugely popular “Singles' Day" in China, when the country’s bachelors and bachelorettes buy and give gifts online to comfort their lonely hearts.

Tmall, a major online retailing platform whose sister firm Taobao.com initiated the unofficial "Singles' Day" four years ago, is poised to capture the upcoming sales bonanza on November 11th.

During last year's Singles' Day, Tmall and Taobao.com recorded a sales miracle of over 19 billion yuan, or more than 3 billion U.S. dollars, three times the figure seen in the previous year.

"Vendors to participate at this year’s Shopping Festival have doubled compared with the number last year. So far, products ready to be sold during this year’s 'Singles' Day' have far outnumbered those of last year," Tmall's vice president Wang Yilei said.

Lured by huge market potential, other major online retailers are putting their weight behind this year's widely anticipated shopping spree, hoping to grab a lucrative slice of the cake.

"We are offering up to 80 percent off for more than ten million products from November 1st to 12th. This is the largest sales promotion in our company's history," said Li Xi, Vice PR Director of JD.com.

Not only are online retailers anticipating the shopping festival, banks, couriers and online payment providers, are also looking to see their turnover soar during the period.