Singles’ Day is the most significant shopping holiday in China, with the retail giant Alibaba regularly earning vast amounts of money from the day. The day is the 11th of November, and it came about from university students and is fittingly full of 1s to celebrate the pride of single living. Over time, the day also known as “Guanggun Jie” became more commercialized by Alibaba until it is the shopping sensation it is today.

Figures from the 2019 Singles’ Day bear witness to this with a reported gross merchandise value of $38.3 billion by Alibaba, which is the world’s largest retailer and e-commerce firm. The figure was recorded at the end of the 24-hour shopping frenzy during the day, and it was 24% higher than last year’s take of $30.8 billion. For a clearer perspective of the great value of this figure, it is higher than the $30 billion that would be required to end world hunger for one year. Hence, the total amount generated in a day could feed the world for an entire year and eliminate poverty on a global scale.

One of the reasons this shopping extravaganza is so successful is the massive size of the Chinese consumer market. Not just that, Alibaba made roads towards self-care sales, which makes the consumer feel better. There is also a massive promotional effort bringing in artists such as Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey this year for greater brand awareness. Some of the numbers that result from this effort are truly mind-blowing, even putting aside the already huge final figure. By one minute in, over $1 billion had already been made, and $13 billion by the first hour. The effect of the Singles’ Day sale is consumerism at its finest and shows that solving world hunger can be an achievable goal if the world comes together.