The 24-hour Chinese retail extravaganza, similar to Black Friday, generated more than $1 billion in the first minute alone, Alibaba reported. In the first nine hours, sales jumped 25 percent compared to the same point last year.

After 15 hours, the gross merchandise volume was on track to reach $30 billion, nearly half of US rival Amazon’s net sales in the entire third quarter, and already nearing last year’s record sales. The number of delivery orders for 2019 Singles’ Day already surpassed the total for 2017.

This year’s Singles’ Day sales could break last year’s record – nearly $31 billion – a massive jump from the $25 billion generated in 2017.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Singles’ Day, also known as ‘Double 11’, as it falls on November 11. The tradition originates from Chinese college campuses where students have a tradition dating back to the 90s of celebrating being single.

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