Singles day encourages new laws
China's internet shopping websites have been cautioned by Chinese authorities in an attempt to reduce the number of fabricated promotional advertisements aimed at those looking to make a splash on Singles Day.
Singles Day is an increasingly popular festival among young Chinese people who feel proud at being single. The date, November 11th (11/11), is chosen because the number "1" best represents an individual. Singles Day is both the country's busiest online shopping day, and the most lucrative shopping day in the world. Last year's sales were worth almost £13.7bn, with Chinese consumers placing 657 million orders in just 24 hours.
Much of the shopping is placed through the online platform Alibaba, who claim the top spot as China’s largest ecommerce company. Despite their strong market position, they are coming under increasing pressure for failing to police the false claims made by some sellers. Another issue the platform is struggling to deal with is “brushing”, a technique vendors use to stage fictitious sales in order to boost their standing in website search results.
As more consumers switch to the online market place, Chinese authorities are investing heavily into policing the shopping processes. In August, they introduced the “Cyber Court” to help deal with individual internet-related claims and online shopping disputes.
Falling in line with the state's guidelines is certainly in Alibaba’s best interests, having posted a 56% raise in quarterly revenue. It seems if they can iron out these issues created by the online community utilising its platform, they will continue to lead the online charge.
