Jack Ma’s Alibaba rakes in over $1bn per hour as Singles Day record smashed

Alibaba has racked up $25.3 billion in sales on Singles Day, China’s biggest online shopping day, so far, with close to $7 billion in sales made in the first 30 minutes.

This was 29 percent higher than 2016, when the online shopping company made $17.8 billion. This year it made $18 billion in sales before 12pm, making $1 billion in the first two minutes.

Singles Day is a Chinese holiday, like a Valentine’s Day for single people, where people are encouraged to treat themselves. The day of shopping brings in more sales than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined in the US.

The revenue generated is 29 percent higher than 2016, when the online shopping company made $17.8 billion. This year it made $18 billion in sales before 12pm, making $1 billion in the first two minutes.

Since 2009, Alibaba has reaped the rewards of the day, with Chinese flocking to the site for 11/11 special offers.

READ MORE: Drink till you drop: Never-ending supply of booze for sale on Singles’ Day in China

Alibaba announced the company had broken a world record for payment transactions within the first five minutes on Saturday. There were 256,000 payment transactions processed per second by Alipay, Alibaba’s Alizila news website reported. Sales made on mobile sales account for 90 percent of the day’s transactions, Bloomberg reports.

The company has also surpassed the 657 million delivery orders it received in 2016, with Wan Lin, president of Alibaba’s logistics affiliate Cainiao, announcing delivery orders are close to 700 million, according to Alizila.

This year, 140,000 different merchants took part in the event, including many international brands like Tampax and Asos. Last year, there were 98,000.

Alibaba hosts a large gala on the Friday before Singles Day. This year, Nicole Kidman and Pharrell Williams were among the guests.

READ MORE: Jack Ma: ‘Alibaba should join forces in developing Russia’